AZRAEL

I recognized that creature immediately from Spirits and Ascendant Beings by Harold Blackfoot. This was a Soul Piper or Tatarimokke. While such beings did make themselves known to the dead, they typically did not appear to living humans. At least, not without the request of an angel or some powerful incentive. I strongly suspected the work of Estheriel. That angel must have known that we were coming to stop their plans, and decided to send this ascendant being over here to stall us.

Tatarimokke are not typically dangerous. They fly around with hitodama, the souls of the dead, who are entertained for a time until they pass on to whatever Afterlife awaits them. Typically, they just play their flute, and even if asked to appear before humans, will typically not attack. Instead, their eyes are typically almost closed, as they tune out most events around them. However, if they see angry or violent souls, their eyes begin to open. The more violence they witness, the more these eyes open, until finally they manifest chains around a bad boy or girl, and drag them to Niraya (the Buddhist hell). But it wasn’t that big a deal. They typically collect nearby souls, then leave. We had nothing to worry about because surely the group wouldn't try to fight them...

TAMASHII

“This thing looks dangerous,” I said, looking at its massive round body, closed eyes, and deadpan expression while it played the flute, “I'm gonna get rid of it, all of you can just watch.” I thought I saw Azrael slap her forehead in the corner of my eye but I thought nothing of it. It was time to crush this fierce creature, and show it not to mess with us! I didn’t even worry that Azrael was frantically trying to signal to me.

Thinking such thoughts, I summoned my signature flames of Soulfire from raw mental energy. It wasn't enough to even singe it. I tried again, this time using closer to 40% of my power, in a move that I uncreatively called Soulfire 2. It vanished, so I must have slain it. Only, the others pointed with fear and I saw it slowly form behind me. It may have been my imagination, but its eyes seemed to be a little more visible now. I noticed a golden tone to its iris and it appeared to have no pupil. The creature appeared to speak, “Baaaa... ” It figured it was just making sounds though, so I continued to attack. Something about it really annoyed me. Soulfire 3 matched the heat inside of a particularly good forge, but nothing at all happened to it. It was time to try my other powers, I decided. And maybe I should get rid of all of those lights surrounding it, because they might be protecting it? Its eyes grew wider and wider as I used Mother Of All Flames on it, trying to roast what I later found out were souls. It finished speaking, “...aaad... Chiiiilldd...” Bad child? Hey you, my mom says I’m a good kid!

And then, my dream from earlier came true. I saw those around me fade one by one. “Somebody! Somebody!” I screamed, losing sight of Mom, Dad, Azrael, Zoe, Lilith, Yazim Jianne, Aqorm, Elias... and as they faded more and more, I realized that they weren't disappearing from me. I was disappearing from them. I forgot their names, starting with that sorcerer who was a loser anyway... and then the scholar guy... and eventually all of these faces ran together, and I couldn't remember even who they were, not just their names. I was sitting alone in a dark pit, unable to remember my loved ones. I had forgotten the face of my father. Oh yea, and my mother too. And... my loved ones? But who was I? Who could love me? I felt better when the coldness and the darkness of this place brightened... but then I realized that I was beginning to sweat. I remembered the flames that I had mastery of, but now it seemed as though this was soviet Russia, and they had mastery of me. I was surrounded by fire, and I began to scream. I thought I saw people with pitchforks coming for me. There was only pain left in my life.

AZRAEL

To us watching, all I could see was that Tamashii got surrounded by chains, and then pulled straight into a shadowy pit of some sort. But judging from her reactions, I could tell that she was seeing something different. Something much much worse.

I was told that Niraya was not a place with fire nor sharp pitchforks, but rather a place of torture of one's own making. In Tamashii’s case though, she was chased out of Opening that way, so maybe it’s the same. While the Six Paths represented fates after one's Afterlife, Niraya was the ultimate condition of being stuck, having your own desires and pain trap you in torment. This is not to say stuck forever, some resolved their issues and purified their souls, while others escaped as ghosts. People in Niraya were unfit to reincarnate again, instead becoming tormented by their own thoughts until they could finally resolve things. Okay, maybe that does sound like Hell. But it’s not!

I wasn't cool with this. Tamashii could be a hothead, and occasionally a brat, but she also not deserving of this sort of punishment. That I knew of anyway, seeing as how we'd only known her a little while. The Tatarimokke was out of line! And yet, there was no way to enter Niraya. Only souls that had a bad Afterlife after a lifetime of evil actions, or who managed to impress the Soul Piper as being exceptionally violent made it there. Honestly, I'm surprised that it wasn't actually Ambrosia that managed to tick it off. But I guess she had outgrown some of her more impulsive behavior. Ambrosia was mature!

“Let me deal with that thing,” said Zoe, pulling out the Sword of Sorrow. There were magical objects in the world, but Artifacts like this were very rare. The Trident of Poseidon, Mjölnir, the City of Jerusalem, the Blades of the the Seasons (of which there were four), the Sword of Burning Solitude, the One Ring of Nibelung, each of these were unique items that God or one of the immortals had a direct hand in making. And each of these were very powerful, with the Sword of Sorrow able to revive the dead or put the living to death. But I shook my head at her suggestion. Unlike spirits, ascendant beings were never alive and could not be subject to either death or an Exorcism. Thankfully, none of them were evil, they all had important functions. About all I could do to this thing was Banishment. But I wasn't emotionally up for one when I had just watched the daughter of someone who Zoe really loved get dragged under (I know, the daughter of my lover's BFF doesn't seem like much, but it hurt me to see her hurting, and she knew Tamashii better than I did). So instead, I whipped out my Exorcist Flute that I’ve had since visit to the Christmas Village year ago, and started playing. While my Exorcist Bells could destroy most creatures, it wasn't safe to use without killing everyone here, and these beings were one of very few things it would do absolutely no good against.

The Exorcist Flute had potentially more versatility than the Bells, but honestly, I had only managed one tune, the Song of Banishment. I played the Flute, and it responded with its own flute. Despite more years of practice, I managed to prevail not by playing better, but by playing louder. The song was rather terrible, and it left. I was pleased with myself, but the others looked annoyed for some reason. Maybe they want to hear more?

In any case, I was depressed now that it was gone. There was no way to enter Niraya to rescue that poor child now. Unless... A thought suddenly occurred to me. But, it was crazy... Ambrosia and Zoe both saw the pained look on my face. “What's wrong, baby?” asked Zoe. “You doing okay?” asked Ambrosia. I sighed, “Ambrosia, how much do you love you daughter?” She glared at me, “What kind of question is that? I love her more than anything!” I continued this line of questioning, “Do you... love her enough to risk the life of one of your other friends?” I explained to her what I was intending. Her annoyance turned to horror, “You can't... that's not right...” But I needed to do it.

I was planning to send myself into Niraya. My blade, Eternal Moon had the ability to cleanse and purify all souls that it touched, turning even the most evil spirits into souls that could escape the Six Paths and finally achieve peace. But it was not intended to be used against its own wielder. If I was somehow disarmed, the blade would reject any other who tried to hold it, save for one whose intention was to give it directly to me. And if I tried to use it to commit suicide, the blade would not make things easy, but instead would condemn me to Niraya. It wasn't a sword that suffered shortcuts, it had given me eternal life, but if I threw that away, I couldn't expect to come back.

And yet, I had to do something. I slashed at my chest before dropping the sword, and watched as my arms and body began to turn white as I lost consciousness for the last time. I felt something coil around my midsection, but I had no time to worry about that. Things like sensation were gone in a few moments. Like Tamashii before me, I noticed a chain around my waist, but I couldn't seem to get it undone. I had a job to do, and I had to ignore such things for now. I needed to spend all of my energy remembering who I was, and who Tamashii was, and how I needed to save her. It was a good thing that I still had my sword. Even if it did seem a little bit enraged at me.

I appeared within the same sort of darkness as all who are sent to Niraya experience. I would see my worst fears played out over and over, and typically, I would lose my memory and become trapped. Yet some this didn't seem to be happening. I saw images of Zoe rejecting or hurting me, yet I remembered who I was and what I came here to do. It was then that looked carefully at the chain around me, which right at this worst period when I should have believed the image of my girl's rejection, it had taken to glowing. I noticed the heart at the end of this chain and realized that this chain was not one of the chains of torment from this place, but rather a chain from the Sword of Sorrow. Zoe loved me, she cared for me, and she didn't want me to become trapped here. And that made this image false. My chest felt warm with her feelings for me.

As I walked along in this shadowy underworld, more images appeared, but I was able to fight them. I knew that someone loved me, and was still connected to me. Since I was no longer in any immediate danger, next I needed to find Tamashii and rescue her.

The utter darkness gave way to islands of grey, filled with thick muck reminiscent of manure. The soil stuck to my shoes, threatening to pull me down into the sludge. But I remembered that Niraya was at least as much a world of sensation as it was one of actual events, so I cleansed my perception. Suddenly, I was standing atop the soil despite its suction. While I was attempting to remain afloat in these islands of muck, the only things that grew there turned out to be a particularly awful sort of weed that was a bramble plant that also had burrs. The bramble part cut me with its thorns when I tried to pass to other islands, while the burrs stuck to my clothing and continued to poke at me as I walked, until I brushed them off. No matter where I got rid of them, even into the empty air between islands, they found a way to grow, instantly forming roots and latching to the nearest island. I eventually decided to just flee the area.

The islands gave way to a sort of mist where no land could be seen. This was the central part, and I had to focus if I was going to rescue Tamashii. This particular region was so strong that I had trouble doubting my senses, even with the chain. In fact, to even see in front of me took tremendous effort, as my mind would create powerful images that became increasingly real, the more that I thought of them. Tamashii was likely to be here, as the more someone became a part of Niraya, the closer to the center they came. This was why in the beginning, I saw few humans in this place, but now, I saw people every few steps crying or screaming. They were trapped in their own minds and their own pain. Until they could break free of such things they could never reincarnate, much less move on to their Afterlife. I thought of paintings by Hieronymus Bosch, and suddenly, I too was visualizing a scene. I tried to keep myself distracted, so I instead decided to focus on a mantra, saying the words “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, nor rulers, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow - not even the image of Hell can separate us from God’s love.” Remembering that this meant nothing that I was looking at could be real, I simply ignored what I was imagining. I could see again. I breathed slowly while continuing to recite, looking around carefully until I finally saw the form of a little girl with purple hair screaming in pain. I tested carefully by poking at her, and trying to disbelieve in her to see if she'd go away. In a world of false perceptions, one could never be too careful. Finally, I scooped her up. She calmed down slightly at my touch, but the little soul was very frightened. I pulled off the ribbon that normally bound my hair in a neat ponytail. Tamashii was stark naked, as was true eventually of most of those in Niraya. It wasn't because anyone was a pervert, people who succumbed to Niraya eventually lost anything to protect their body from exposure to heat, cold, or pain. The ribbon wasn't much, but I managed to cover her extremities at least. As we walked away from the center, I turned until the chain coiled around her as well, and watched her blink as her perception of reality returned. Tamashii seemed to have some color in her body now that she wasn't tormented. “Azrael,” she muttered, “thank you for coming for me.” She smiled at me. And then, she passed out.

It seemed an eternity of walking, through very difficult terrain that tried to pull us closer to its center if we should forget that it wasn't real. Yet I made it away from the misty island in center, away from the mucky islands on the outskirts, past the darkness that pervaded the entrance, and towards a thick mist around the edges. This was the most difficult part, because even though my chain was protecting me, I suppose I was technically dead. This mist might as well be an iron fence, for few people had broken through, and I was about to make a hole. The chain glowed brighter and brighter, but the mist was as thick as pea soup. I tried to push through and I was having problems. I realized that I only had a few chances before despair took over, and if that happened, I would be stuck here forever. If I had my sword Eternal Moon, I could probably do something about this, but here, I was stuck. “Zoe!” I yelled, touching the mist, “Help!”

ZOE

This event was pretty scary at my end, since I wasn't entirely sure what I was seeing. Druids, after all, concerned themselves with the study of life, not of death. I had very little lore about the Afterlife, only what Azrael had explained about my own Sword of Sorrow, and about her sword, the Eternal Moon. I knew that her sword could basically kill creatures so they couldn't really be revived, although perhaps “kill” is the wrong word, since she said it was more like purifying them. She also said that if she ever felt depressed enough that she was about to stab herself with the sword, to stop her immediately. So I was pretty frightened when I heard this plan.

As I saw Tamashii get dragged off, body and all, I pieced together what her plan was in time to coil the chain of the Sword of Sorrow around her body. I knew that this chain responded to my will, twisting and coiling as though it were alive, and I knew that its primary purpose was to restrain. But I also believed that since it could even restrain ghosts and such, it could probably act as a tether so she could find her way back. The chain did in fact glow before gradually fading, and her body didn't seem to be in a hurry to get cold or stiff or stink of rot, despite being motionless for nearly three days. In fact, but for the white tone of her skin and the bluish tone of her lips, I could almost believe she was in a coma. You know, a really deep coma like they had in Romeo and Juliet.

Tamashii suddenly reappeared in the exact spot where she had vanished, and I could tell that she was not dead by checking her pulse, the color of her skin, and her steady breathing. However, I couldn't seem to rouse her. Not long after that happened, the chain started glowing brighter, and Azrael's body appeared to be struggling with something. I jumped back as her arm shot up suddenly as though grabbing something. And then I heard her voice faintly say, “Zoe! Help!” Was this danger or a good sign?

Honestly, I wasn't sure what to do, so I stabbed her with the Sword of Sorrow and swiftly removed the blade, and watched as she went through a slight spasm before color returned to her skin and I saw her breathe again. However, she didn't seem to come back either. Having no other ideas, I placed her sword in her hands and closed it.

AZRAEL

Tamashii suddenly looked startled, “Your... face...” I asked, “What about it?” She explained, “You ummm, don't look dead anymore...” Looking at my hands, I realized she was right, my body had color in it again. But how? In any case, I didn't have time to dwell on such things, because we still had to get out somehow... Wanting to think, I was about to lift my hand to my chin while I analyzed this situation, only to realize that my hand was now holding a rather large sword. Now I was sure Zoe had heard me after all.

Lifting the sword, I raised it to just above waist level. I still wasn't sure how we were to leave, as this place was like a prison, but I decided to swing at it with my sword. The mist behaved like regular mist and flew around before largely settling in its original position but I noticed runes floating around in the thick mass, particularly those that marked 死 (“death”), 圄 (“imprison”), and 烟 (“vapor”). I had a general idea of what was going on now, so this was definite progress. Because of the nature of this place, runes wouldn't work, even my custom symbols. My sword on the other hand... Focusing not on the mist itself but on cutting apart those runes, I slashed the sword straight across in one long motion. As though I had placed some sort of divider, the mist no longer connected in a place where I had slashed. I slashed straight down, and the vertical dimension didn't hold together either. A small yet definitely visible tunnel began to appear in one spot of Niraya. Although some souls would still be trapped, there now was an exit for all of those who could see it. I returned to my body, and Tamashii also revived. I am told that around 10% or so of all damned souls either found a way back to Earth, reincarnated, or finally made it to an Afterlife so I was in trouble for awhile for creating an uproar. The hole, I am told, never got fixed but remained as an exit.

After three days of being absent then in a sleep-like state, Tamashii was alive again without a hitch, but I had a strange mark on my forehead resembling a moon and having the runes «月鬼» inside it. At the time, I had no idea what this meant, but over the next few months I figured it out. Like most women, I had a monthly cycle, but now I had a second cycle. I was eternal as before, and could no longer be killed. But after, I was only fully alive during the full moon and some holidays like Halloween, Easter, Christmas, and the Ghost Festival. Over the month otherwise, my body would likewise grow more solid as the quarter moon waxed towards a full moon, only to gradually become more like a ghost as it waned towards a new moon. With my symbols I could still harm other ghosts but not the living, I could still be seen but not be touched, and my sword could still technically hurt living things (but it didn't have its power until the moon was at least a quarter moon again). But more importantly, I couldn't touch her until I was back to normal. Would she still love me, knowing that I was a ghost?

TAMASHII

“I call this meeting to order,” I said. The Council members shook their heads, and Hinata's leader Lajila objected, “Tamashii Brahman, you do not have authority within this Council as Nevras has all but abdicated, and his wife Ambrosia also appears to have no interest in the position. In fact, it seems as though your cousin Morgana is next in line unless one of you decides to step up. Now sit in the guest's chair unless you plan to do that.” I thought about the times that I'd met Morgan and immediately said, “I have decided to swear to royal offices, in the sight of God and before all of you. When my grandparents leave the throne through accident, assassination, or old age, I vow to reign in their place, with the assistance of whatever spouse I choose. Until such point, I will only attend Council meetings if I have a direct concern.” What? Morgana was an evil witch. Like I was giving the crown to her! I guess I’m glad her name wasn’t Nimue.

“Very well, then!” she said, “However, you still are not allowed to call the meeting to order. That's my job. So... do you actually have a direct concern? Because if not...” Hmph, treating me like a child. Didn't she know that at age four, I had already memorized Robert's Rules of Order? I told her, “As a matter of fact, I do have a concern. Our party was attempting to secure the Orihime Flute, when the artifact was seized by one Mariposa of the Kochou race. This action has impeded our quest, and we would probably like resolution to it, especially after our long boat trip here, in which time I was in Niraya for a few days as well.” Lajila smirked. She had heard enough about our travels from my grandparents to know that they were always a bit different from the rest of the population. After a few cases of someone's cow being stolen or alleged curses, having someone actually escape the Buddhist hell that nobody was supposed to be able to escape was a welcome change. “I make a motion to delay other business during this Council meeting for two weeks,” she proposed, “in favor of resolving this and only this issue during this meeting.” King Charis and Queen Victoria seconded. Since most of the Council had apparently been looking for any excuse to shorten the meeting, the vote carried unanimously. “Very well,” she said, “call the accused.” Jesus stood, a girl who looked like an older version of me. Jesus said, “I call Mariposa to witness for her actions.” And suddenly, there she was. At least, I thought it was her, she had grown taller and slightly leaner, and she appeared to have antennas on her head now. It hadn't been that long! Could she really have changed that much? She was... fabulous.

Mariposa looked around at the room, confused as to how she got from a forest a moment ago to a room filled with people. But before she could dwell on this, Jesus asked her, “Tell me, why did you take the Orihime Flute from these people?” The way she asked was strange. It wasn't that she was condemning her, as there was no judgement in her voice. But Jesus knew immediately that she had in fact done so, and wanted to give her a chance to admit her actions and her reasons. Mariposa obliged, “Our people have constantly been losing territory after the changes to the Council allowed more lands to be built into towns.” Jesus asked, “So Tamashii and her group was responsible for this?” Everyone in the room knew this wasn't the case, that the Council's failure to maintain zoning had in fact been to blame. She shook her head, “Of course not! But they interfered with my plans to take back our lands and invade a few extra lands nearby, so they deserve what they get!” The Council demanded she return the Orihime Flute, which was when I technically wanted to leave, but now that we'd started this zoning debate, that was out of the question. I guess if Estheriel wanted to destroy the universe or something, we would just have to wait until the Council had come to a decision, even if it only happened after everything was destroyed... Okay, maybe I’m being a bit overdramatic.

Everyone in the Council debated for a few hours on how to zone. Jesus believed that in the interest of fairness, any new towns should be 50 miles or more away from the nearest forest with and any industrial towns should also be this far from the ocean to protect places like Aquamundo from pollution. But although the Council often deferred to Jesus and his/her fair approaches, this particular issue needed each town to consider its own self-interest. The mayor of Ghobli couldn't abide this, since his town was surrounded by forests, and logging was part of the town industry. Goji was a coastal town and near enough to a desert that the second prohibition wouldn't serve their interests if it suddenly went from a quaint town with ghosts to a classical fishing village. Kirin was mostly helpless without access to both alpine forests and access to fish.

Finally, after spending the entire night on the verge of strangling one another, a solution was made. Of course, this solution was only arrived at after voting on and dismissing about four proposals. First, town size was to be limited horizontally to what it already was. Any additional building to a preexisting town could only take place vertically, either in terms of skyscrapers or in the building of underground cities. Since most humans didn't want the second one, only towns with large numbers of dwarves favored this approach. Second, new towns were only allowed if there was a population to support it. This was to prevent scores of unnecessary towns from springing up only to leave behind empty houses where nobody lived. Third, if a majority of houses in a town are empty, the town will reduce in size to just the houses needed, maintaining the current town borders. This meant that such houses got bulldozed and replaced with trees or farmland. Fourth, all towns are organized around a single climate type. That is to say, if one region was mostly snow, and it suddenly switched to grassland (as had happened in Kushiyama), you'd be able to build one town in the snowfields (Kirin) and one in the grassland, and one in the mountain between them, but nothing outside of that.

They ultimately decided to make a policy that only adult trees are allowed to be removed, and each tree removed must have at least one replacement. By doing this, even towns that living too close to the forest were at least ensuring that the forest wasn't clear-cut to turn it into an urban center or something. This was also vague enough to allow for a great variety of town types. There were even moving machine towns!

While people could move to whatever town they wanted, most people preferred to pick a town to live in and build it up. Mom quoted some verse to me later, “Imagine a small country with few people. They enjoy the labor of their hands and do not waste time inventing labor-saving machines. Since they dearly love their homes, they are not interested in travel. Although they have boats and carriages, they are rarely used. Although there may be weapons, nobody ever uses them. They are content with healthy food, pleased with simple clothing, satisfied in snug homes. People take pleasure in being with their families, spending weekends working in their gardens and delighting in the doings of the neighborhood. Although the next country is close enough that they can hear their roosters crowing and dogs barking, they are content to leave each other in peace.” I had no idea what she meant. There were all kinds of cool devices lately, and they made life so easy. And it seemed so fun to travel. But after this decision, tourists were rare, and people did seem to prefer to stay in their own towns and settle down.

As far as getting Rangers to manage these forests, that was voted down. Zoe managed to propose to the Council to use Druids instead, and this idea was well-received by Mariposa. By the time we actually left, it seemed like everything was settled. Which was good, because it meant that Mariposa was all too eager to hand us back the Flute.

AMBROSIA

We headed to Galaxia from the Council's island. While it was probably important to stop whatever plan Estheriel had for the world, now that we actually had the Orihime Flute back, I didn't feel like it right now. It was almost Valentine's Day, and I hadn't had a date with my man in quite awhile. I was kinda worried that Tamashii might be a hindrance. But she said that she was gonna try a play date with Portia. After her traumatic experience, she needed some time with a friend to cheer her up. And that would give us plenty of time uninterrupted to enjoy ourselves.

The others were planning various outings too. Zoe and Azrael, because they had traveled the world together, said they planned to just spend the time indoors and watch movies together while cuddling. Yazim Jianne and Selqui had spent much of their time together with experimentation of things that were blasphemous, such as training dolphins to deliver mail using waterproof capsules and a vacuum tube system. Why, if dolphins were meant to deliver mail, God would have given them wings like pigs had! Selqui wanted to have a sense of how regular girls lived, and they needed a break from science, she said. Yazim Jianne had looked a bit shocked, but after some arguing, they said they were going to “something called a shopping mall.” She came back later with an ingenious dress that appeared to be made by Yazim Jianne himself, after they concluded that all of the dresses in the store lacked the ability to freely morph into a bikini, which was something a devoted swimmer like her required. Elias gave the day to Aqorm and Lilith to enjoy together, despite their protests, since he said he wanted to spend the whole day studying, and eat black bean noodles called jajangmyeon. I have no idea what those two did, as they wouldn't talk about it later. Something about it being almost ruined.

The holidays of the New Earth ended with Christmas and began with New Years, and every year in a twelve year cycle there was a different animal depicted. Nine years had passed since 7076 AD (Year of the Dragon) when we started our quest, and our quest had taken about a year and a half, but that time didn't count, because God had played tricks with time. So this year was now 7085 AD, and it was now the year of the Ox. This meant that Christmas celebrations started at Christmas Eve and continued up through Epiphany, but most people didn't even mention the new year until the official New Year, making the celebration pretty long. In any case, right in the middle of this time frame was Valentine's Day on February 14th, also known as White and Black Day. As well as being a big day for dating, it was also a time to give white chocolates in response to declarations of love from previous years or eat the aforementioned jajangmyeon (a noodle dish with large amounts of black beans) if they were single. This day was also called the Day of the Lord, because there was an unsubstantiated rumor that Jesus had his Second Coming on this date rather than Easter (nobody could prove that though). Then there was Ash Wednesday, which always appeared 40 days (not counting about six Sundays) before Easter, and involved marking the forehead with ash. Easter celebrated the resurrection of Jesus among his believers, and renewal and spring among everyone else. This year, it would be April 5th , so Ash Wednesday would be 46 days before that, and 50 days after that was Pentecost. Pentecost was kinda cool though, as actual spiritual flames appeared suddenly and typically blocked up the streets. But only Christians celebrated some of these, while everyone celebrated Christmas, Easter, and Halloween.

Aside from that, we had a number of Asian festivals. We had Honensai (which wound up being largely a harvest festival involving a phallic object), Tanabata (where the estranged lovers Orihime and Hikoboshi meet for one night), and Ghost Festival (the Ghost Day of the Ghost Month where people made offerings to ghosts). We had Independence Day, celebrating independence by shooting off fireworks (but nobody still understood what it was independence from). We also had Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas at their normal dates before the year began anew. Well, unless you counted the Year of Jubilee, Passover, and the Great Eclipse when the Sun, Moon, and Presence eclipsed (which actually only existed since this year because before that the Presence didn't appear in the sky, but I wiped everyone's mind to believe that we'd been celebrating this for centuries). We had a few too many holidays, to say the least, and while I was tempted to blow off this one, we were in desperate need of a break from getting in and out of a boat, on and off a dragon, talking to people, fighting critters, and all the stress that came with frequent travel. I needed time to just be with my beloved.

I wanted something simple, such as dinner and movie, just to spend time with him. Aside from Nevras's crossdressing, he was a pretty regular guy, so I got him all dolled up, curled his hair, tightened a corset so his Medium body was now able to fit into a Small sized dress, applied makeup and pads, and he slipped into a nice slinky pink dress that he'd kept around for such an occasion. I slipped on a short petticoat underneath, and he looked like Sakura Kinomoto of Cardcaptor Sakura, except for the fact that this dress only poofed out slightly due to its tightness. It was narrow-waisted, with matching pink boots with white tights extending just above the boot, pink shawl, and pink cap with white gloves, and red/white stripe ribbons extending from the cap, the shawl, and near the boot. I on the other hand had an easy change of clothing. You see...

A long time ago, Aqorm splashed mud on my dress (and on me), and I discovered that it had powerful runes enchanted to it, but nothing a decent wizard couldn't have made. But then when I saw how that ordinary fishing pole that could turn into any tool was actually made from Conception, and how light and flexible my brown dress was, it got me to thinking. What if my dress and boots were also the same material, and could become any clothing I wanted? I experimented with it, over the course of many dances and parties, and it turned out I was right! I couldn't make it into armor or anything, but I could turn my dress into a bikini or a bridal dress or a party dress. Since we were going to a trendy restaurant, not an upscale one, I decided the height of fashion would be to turn my dress into a leotard, tight, and legwarmer combo which was so popular in those 1980s movies. Since the 1980s were the height of fashion. Especially bodysuit/jeans.

When we entered the diner, people looked at us funny, but we paid them no mind. I ordered the porterhouse with a baked potato and some onion rings, and he ordered the salad since I insisted that a “proper lady cannot be seen gorging herself on bloody red meat, and we must always keep up appearances.” Awhile back we figured out that in addition to crossdressing, he kind of liked being dominated. I didn't like pushing too hard, but treating him like he suddenly wasn't allowed certain foods or drinks because they were “unladylike” seemed to turn him on. I was about to bite into my bloody juicy steak when a ringtone from his cellphone rang. He obviously had set his ringtones, and Tamashii definitely got her snarky sense of humor from him, for it played Mr T's Treat Your Mother Right. “What's mine?” I asked. He laughed, “Try calling me.” I giggled, when Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up played. “Oh,” he said, “Now, I wanna find out yours!” I protested, “Wait no, it's embarrassing!” But it was too late. It was N'Sync's God Must Have Spent A Little More Time With You. His mom rang again, and this time he sighed, and picked up, “I was just wondering if you and Ambrosia had any plans for Valentine's Day, because you know I was thinking...” He hung up. She always did stuff like this! She was sweet to me, and she loved him. But sometimes, with all of her money and political power, her sense of romance interfered with what we would have preferred. We might go to burger place or a ramen shop, or a diner like this one, but she felt like we couldn't have a good time unless we were treated to a five star restaurant. She meant well but as she kept calling, that funny ringtone quickly got annoying, and finally infuriating. Eventually, I flipped the table. Or tried to, it was a diner, and even with my great strength, this diner had dealt with the likes of ogres. The table was fairly firmly bolted to the ground. “Dammit,” I said impotently. I grabbed my Console, and before I thought it through, I typed in, «Leave this world.» What could go wrong?

I intended for us to spend an actual date without interruptions. Instead, I forgot that my Console had a tiny problem of erasing me from existence. I could still see him at the diner, but I was like a ghost. I guess that's it then, I screwed up, and now I'll never see him again. “Oh c'mon, quit being over-dramatic, will you?” a voice behind me said. I turned to see the part of me that was God staring at me. “Why, God?” I asked, “Why can't anything I do with this Console actually work?” God explained, “You're trying to change reality. In order for anything to change, it needs to match what things are...” I had to accept how things were to change things? I couldn't hear anything more. She started poking me in the back. “As I was saying before you ignored me,” God said, “your Console doesn't work because in the back of your mind, you're convinced that what you make isn't real. So it isn't.” Ah, so my suspicion earlier was right. I handed this to God, “Can you fix things? What I really wanted was a quiet date with my husband, without any distractions.” God nodded, “I'll take this off your hands until you're able to use it properly.” God explained, “From now on, your fate is in your hands. You're outside his reality, but he might be able to remember you again.” I dialed him, even though I was sure he wouldn't pick up. It looked like he almost answered the phone... And then static. My reality broke down. I noticed him, I looked up at him, but I wasn't sure he even saw me. He seemed to answer the phone, but we couldn’t hear each other.

Eventually, I pretty much just totally burst into tears, “I only wanted to be with my husband for Valentine's Day! Is it so wrong to want to spend my time with the man I love?” I looked around, and everyone in the restaurant was staring. I was back in the real world! But we had made a scene.

Nevras blushed, before calling over the chef, “Could... could you box this up for us?” The chef, who turned out to be an old romantic, despite his gruff appearance (it was a diner, after all), not only did just that, but asked if we wanted any dessert. There were loads of chocolate items, but I wasn't that big into chocolate, honestly. Nor could I handle much coffee, outside a tiramisu. It tastes like dirt, even if it is just ground!

Instead, we got a Yin Yang cake, with berries on top. The Yin Yang cake was an invention of the Great Sage Exceeding All Other Bakers, and was a layering of angel food cake with devil food cake, normally. But as I announced my aversion to chocolate, he instead subbed that out with an demon food cake. A demon food cake was a different recipe than devil food cake, it was light and fluffy yet still more decadent than angel food cake. While devil food cake was flavored with chocolate, demon food cake was typically a sponge cake with ginger and peanut butter added into the mix. The icing of this cake swirled together with half coconut icing and half peanut icing, then they lined the whole thing with slivered nuts and berries. The whole thing was a mini-cake, which the baker refused to cut a slice but instead gave us the whole thing because it was art. We spent most of the night looking at this thing. An angel, a demon, and something wild. Then finally, we ate this thing before going to bed. It was so filling that we couldn't go directly to bed, though, but instead spent most of the night making out. To burn energy.

Then one thing led to another, and I was pulling off his panties while he gently unfastened my leotard and stockings. Nine years of being with him had changed my approach to lovemaking. Although he liked me to act dominant, he wasn't an outright masochist, and he did like me to be at least gentle enough to not walk bowlegged the next morning. We held each other tight, kissing each other before I gently slipped myself around his delicate cock. Real or not, I fondled his breasts. Just before he came, I pulled out, telling him that he'd been naughty, and we can't allow naughty people to come inside me, now can we? While I had been stripped down to nothing at all, I insisted that he remain almost fully clothed. Despite being outside me, he still enjoyed licking my cunt and sucking my breasts, but he looked deprived. Especially after I told him that it was my show, and he wasn't to do anything. But I had a treat for him, just for this Valentine's Day. Involving some toys... It’s okay. I was gentle, I promise.

If all of this seems depraved, keep in mind that we almost lost each other, and I was willing to do anything to keep him from getting bored with me. He seemed to be okay with even vanilla sex, yet my heart hurt right now so the regular stuff probably wouldn't cut it. I needed to feel like he wanted me, so only the most perverted stuff for me. He sensed my doubt, and held me close to cheer me up. But it was difficult for me right now, so this took awhile. Hours passed, and Tamashii came back home. We scrambled to clean up all signs of what we did in here, but I definitely feel we had fun tonight!

PORTIA

A sort of static that pervaded reality made everything flicker for a few seconds, and Tamashii appeared to disappear for a little while. I suspected a time paradox. “Are you sure about this?” she asked. Tamashii had always been my friend, along with Sastra. But lately things had begun to change. I had some sexual feelings. They were premature, obviously, as I was only nine or so, but they were nudged a bit by the strange makeup of my self. I was a Seraphim, and until adulthood, my angelic and demonic selves would constantly be urging me in ways that I did not understand. In particular, my passions were more like someone twice my age, while my body wasn’t developed enough yet.

I nodded. “Yes, I want to have a date with you. I want to know what it feels like to be with you as if we were a couple, not just as a friend.” She got kind of quiet for a second. I could probably read her thoughts if I wanted, even with her psionic abilities blocking her mind from intrusion. But I didn't want to. Good or bad, I wanted to hear her say it.

After a long pause, she said, “Alright then. But I'm not very confident about this.” Having spent years by her side, I knew what she meant. She had been moved rather suddenly from the first town she'd ever lived. She had lived on the outskirts, away from most friends her age, with only her family and the two of us to cheer her up.

Galaxia hadn't quite the shopping scene that Phoenix had, but it did have a mountain range nearby. On one of the biggest of these, someone had built a ski lodge, and I knew from my times with Tamashii that she loved all sorts of outdoor activities, as well as being an avid shopper. I thought that it might be fun to hang out with her there. I have no idea what possessed me to think this, since she had almost lost her life on Kushiyama’s slopes. I suppose I wanted to teach her to ski safely, and heal some of those bad memories. After that we’d soak in the hot tub and just...

A Divine Edict appeared below our feet, a series of words and symbols carved in the circle by the hand of God. «Portia, of the house of Michael, you are hereby commanded to return Tamashii no later than 9pm this day, and perform no sexual actions to this girl of nine, nor she to you, nor shall any skinny-dipping or other shenanigans ensue. You will, this day be allowed to kiss or cuddle, but nothing beyond that. Otherwise, you shall die.» I see. So God was protective of Ambrosia's daughter for some reason. Well, no matter, I guess I could live with those terms.

Teaching Tamashii to ski proved to be more frustrating than I thought. Tamashii had done skiing that time she almost broke her neck on Mount Tsukuyomi, but she’d blocked it, so I refreshed her memory. After an initial part where she goofed up when trying to stop, tangling her skis together, causing her to rush at full speed into some netting at the bottom of the hill, causing her to fall onto her back. After that though, her skiing was incredible, as she was fast at picking up most skills. So why was I frustrated? Well... once she learned the basics, instead of gradually building her skills, she wanted to push herself with a black diamond slope. When after barely making it back without any bruises wasn't enough, she decided that those poles were too much like training wheels, and ditched them, relying instead on her balance and her ability to lean correctly. Honestly, the more I looked at it, the more that it seemed to make sense, since a very large temptation was to try to use the poles to stop, and she could focus much more on her other skills. The problem, of course, was that she didn't try this on a green or even a blue slope. She was going down the same slope that she had trouble with!

I tried my best to tutor her, showing her how to use the hockey stop to slow herself down significantly. It was a very long process, because the slopes were steep and she was constantly trying to slow down, but for the most part she didn't really fall much anymore with my support. We made it to the bottom and took off our boots and skis in the lodge. I was fine, but her legs were a bruised mess. I wrapped her legs.

For the next few hours we soaked in the tub, while I set to work healing. Healing was difficult in bubbling water, but gradually those bruises receded. I wanted to touch her body pretty badly, but it seemed like God would kill me right away if I tried that and I probably would get the same treatment again from Ambrosia, so I left her alone for now. She could tell that I was interested though, when she started kissing me. 8:30 rolled around, and I hauled her back to the hotel, with her grabbing my waist tightly as I flew. I never forgot those feelings. Perhaps when we were older, we'd act on them, but for today, it was enough. At age nine, it was a bit too early to do anything besides kiss or hug.

AQORM

An angel, a demon, and something wild. For some reason, that image stuck in my head. Also, I was really feeling hungry for cake, all of a sudden. In any case, we could worry about eating later. I'd agreed to a six mile hike today, each way through forests and mountains, because apparently Lilith had heard about some great restaurant on top of a mountain directly above a ski lodge. It was vaguely a tourist location, but the chef kept this five star restaurant difficult to access. You had to shell out large amounts of money to take a dragon or dirigible up to the top, or you had to be extremely agile and in peak physical shape. While this was not a problem for elves and demons, humans typically got wiped out well before they made it up there. The ski lift got most of the way, though.

On the other hand, both of us were able to jump from tree to tree, so we made it there in a few hours thanks to some awesome parkour. The view was incredible! I could see down to Galaxia from this mountaintop, I could see deer near the alpine forests, and I could even see the little moguls of snow get run over by the skiers on the slope. The lift carried people up to about 100 yards from the top, too far for them to get to us given their skis and the slope, but not too far for us to climb down to them. Perhaps after dinner, we'd pelt a few of them with snowballs for fun, or maybe do some skiing on our own. What a nice little resort community this was! Why, it was perfect! I bet even a stick in the mud like Elias would enjoy this little mountain village.

Our date on the other hand, was about to be ruined. Michael had apparently seen us from afar. He descended suddenly to our location, wings unfurled, trailing a beam of light behind him. “I believe that girl belongs to me, Aqorm! I have her child.” I protested, “No way! I'm married to Lilith, and you can't have her! Besides, we're on a date right now!” Michael smiled, but I wasn't sure it was all that pleasant, “So, you want a perfect Valentine's Day? With hearts and flowers and conversation candies? A perfect date?” I nodded, “Of course I do! Except those conversation heart things are made of bone meal or something...” I grimaced, then shrugged, “Sure, if you want to help me have the perfect Valentine's Day, I'm glad to accept!” What? It seemed good at the time.

I expected Michael to use his Script, saying, “Perfect Fantasy - Object: Chocolate Box” or something, but instead he simply handed me a heart-shaped box. I took it as I munched on a chocolate, dreaming that this would help my date become perfect. It did in a manner of speaking, but I was trapped in a dream for several days by my reckoning. I’m sure it was probably not the same in real time, while Michael tried to steal my date.

In this dream, I was spending my date in this town, not with Lilith but with Elias. Now, some part of me knew that this was not real, just as some part of me could hear Lilith's concerned voice in the background screaming, “Aqorm! Wake up! Get away Michael, and stop meddling! You heard me, go back home!” I heard someone fly away. Then my memories faded, and this too faded into the background.

The town was apparently closed off from the world by a wall of snow and ice. The view looked beautiful from the top but when I tried to leave, this barrier suddenly appeared, and Elias led me away, saying, “Come dear, we still haven’t finished our date.” Not that it was so terrible a place that I immediately had to leave.

In Valentine Village, as I had taken to calling it, since it looked like a Christmas Village, only everything was decorated with garish pink hearts and red streamers, all of the townspeople were so sweet and so in love with other townspeople. While the outside was a wall of ice, everything within appeared to be spring weather. There was no suffering of any kind, no fear, no despair, no want or need. It was perfect. The trees all had carvings in them like «R+H 4Eva» or «Charity and Grace, Love Wins!» and Elias kept trying to convince me to carve my name. But something seemed wrong with that.

As far as days went, each day I spent slightly differently. I got up, Elias said good morning to me, and we had an omelet with spinach and cheese, Belgian waffle with fresh fruit, blueberry pancakes, or sausage gravy and biscuits. Some days, I even skipped the fancy breakfast and just had cereal which was may choice from several containers where I could scoop out Harvest O's, Corn or Wheat Nets, Generic Granola, or The Oatmeal. Each day wasn't exactly the same, but had minor differences, just like chocolates in a batch were different. Some days we skied downhill, others we hiked around, others we rode in a horse-drawn sleigh, still others we built a snowman. In the evening, activities varied from going out to dinner, to watching projection movies while sitting outside, to playing games in the hotel, and so on. It wasn't some fixed idea of perfection, as I craved variety in my life, there were at least different flavors of day, although some of them were similar just like real chocolates. You always get more caramels than you like.

I had a dim memory of the days before in this dream world, but my memories of Lilith, of our quest, and of my goals as a musician were lost. I felt something was missing, but much like someone reincarnated, the life before was cruelly lost and I couldn't even tell why this perfect world was bothering me. Every day that this dream lasted, I would pull one chocolate from the box and munch on it while sleeping, and our vacation would advance one day. Only, something went wrong. There were about 30 chocolates in this box wrapped in silver paper, but on chocolate piece 24, day 24 started to repeat. I just couldn't stand any more chocolate...

Day 24, unlike the others had no variety, because I was stuck on the same chocolate. So I got up, only to try to sleep through the day. I was tired of being here, after all. But at about 11am, Elias pulled me out of bed despite my protests. Despite trying to get back to sleep. “You can't sleep away your life!” he insisted each day. And yet, after seeing most of what this town offered, I was determined to try this, even though it added nothing to the day to do this. He'd offer me a nice crab omelet, but I'd reject it for a tiny bit of fruit. The same happened for lunch, when we were having Kobe burgers on buckwheat buns. And for dinner, I turned down lobster with about a pound of caviar. I refused to ski, I refused to go to any movies, I just sat in my room and read. Even Elias, lover of books that he was, felt like something was wrong with this sort of reading. He tried to cheer me up but I was just not feeling it. And then the day refused to move forward. I did this again. And again. Eventually, I finished my first book, so I found another on the shelf. I'd probably read the entire library soon and then repeat. It was like what happened in the Bible, God said, “You can eat from any of these fruits except the one that causes pain and suffering or whatever,” and they wanted the one that caused pain and suffering. At least, I think that's what the Bible said about it. In any case, in a world where I had choices on how to spend my day, ultimately it was the weight of these choices that put me into a black funk. What if I made a bad choice?

Only, day 25 came anyway. I woke up, and Lilith was in my bead beside me, having eaten the 25th chocolate herself I guess. Despite us supposedly dating in this dream world, Elias always respected my privacy and let me have my own bed rather than sleep together with me. Which was probably for the best, as most evenings I tended to finger myself in a vain attempt to get aroused. It never worked. Despite things being “perfect” I had a distinct feeling of anhedonia, where every day was wonderful, but nothing really approached a state of happiness. This day, however, someone was sleeping in my bed. And it felt nice. In fact, I daresay it felt... just right. Not perfect. But what I wanted.

I felt arms holding my waist, I felt breasts touching my back, and I felt legs wrapped around my thighs. Then I felt the familiar pressure of Lilith's tail coiling inside me. “Ahh-aaaaahhh~!” I moaned. My eyes opened. “Hey there!” she said, “Let's ditch Elias, and finish our date.” For the next five days, it wasn't perfect, it was messy, but it was ours. We hung out at the lodge, but we tried to make the most of our time there, questioning the things that were perfect about this snowy Valentine Village. Elias decided to let me do what I wanted with her after seeing how happy I was, especially after seeing me depressed from about 24 days with him. There were still repetitive aspects, since we were stuck in another time, but it's like all life, you know that things are sometimes gonna be awkward or slow, but you kinda live through it.

Our sleeping selves finally finished off those thirty pieces of silver (the chocolates were covered in silver wrapping), and we woke up about a month later in dream time, and only a few hours later in actual time. The guests looked at us funny for sleeping during our date, and the chef was annoyed because he thought he might have to keep the restaurant open. I never wanted a perfect date again. Cheesy, ruined, whatever, just not perfect. We finished our dinner, and rolled down the mountain, turning into giant snowballs that knocked over other skiers. I figured we'd suffocate inside these things, but the rough soil at the bottom cracked the snowballs like an egg. We walked the rest of the way to Galaxia to rejoin the others.

JESUS

Behold humans, you thought it was Michael who delivered this Valentine's Day chocolate box. But it was I, Jesus! You have heard me say, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” But having seen generations of Christians and Jews trying to live up to perfectionism, let me clarify. God is neither completely omnipotent (for he limits his power), nor omniscient (for the nature of free will and the infinite number of parallel branches of reality created by different decisions renders this ability meaningless), nor omnibenevolent (for in order to be truly good, one must be in accord with the Tao which contains good and evil), nor even omnipresent (for to be everywhere is to be fixed nowhere). But God is perfect in two regards, God is perfectly in the same image as humans and God is perfectly able to love us (as opposed to being able to love us for being perfect). I gave this gift to Michael, who gave it to Aqorm, in order to show her the value of imperfection. Michael simply cooperated because it allowed him to pay Lilith back for neglecting Portia and himself so long.