20401 CE
The light of dawn painted the walls of the small human settlement in soft yellow hues. Kaguya was almost impressed as she took in the thatched roofs and the ornately carved wooden pillars adorning each building. It had been at least a century since she had seen anything like them. The constant ebb and flow of humanity was, if at times monotonous, infinitely preferable to the stillness of Pure Lands.
Now that the thought had crossed her mind, however, the village seemed eerily silent. Granted, it was still early in the morning, but she didn't think the villagers were all fast asleep. It seemed more as if they were simply gone.
What a shame. She had been looking forward to meeting new people.
She kept exploring regardless, noting the circular layout of the village and approaching its centre. The laundry hanging from the windows looked fresh, as did the plants in the small vegetable patches. Whatever had resulted in the village being abandoned, it had been a recent event.
She took a corner and caught her first sight of an open space at the heart of the settlement. She stopped in her tracks, then continued onwards with softer steps.
At the very centre of the village stood a Y-shaped monument. It was made of a pale metal Kaguya didn't recognise on sight, undoubtedly sturdier than its flimsy appearance suggested. Flowering vines twisted around the frame, the edges of the pale purple petals already wilting. On a whim, Kaguya exerted her powers to make the most well preserved of the flowers eternal. Finally, she stepped in front of the person bound to the monument.
The person was kneeling, seemingly only held upright by the complicated bindings fixing her hands to the top parts of the Y. The parts of her arms that were visible beneath her shredded sleeves were criss-crossed with festering lacerations, and her spiderweb hair, which lay unbound and hid most of her from view, looked as though it had never been washed. The impression one received was of someone ill-used and left to die at the mercy of the elements.
Despite the bloody grime and the curtain of dishevelled hair, she was also very obviously Fujiwara no Mokou.
There was a hitch in Mokou's breath as Kaguya leaned closer. Barely a reaction, really. Perhaps she hadn't recognised Kaguya.
That was easy enough to fix. "I wondered where you had been all these years. How long has it been since they abandoned you here?"
Mokou's eyelids were caked with dried blood. When she forced them open, some of the blood turned into a rust-coloured powder which scattered down her cheeks.
At first, she blinkered at Kaguya as though she was a hallucination. Then, a glaze fell back upon her eyes, suggesting she didn't care either way.
"They'll be back." Her voice was cracked, but surprisingly strong. "It's some stupid ritual that can only be done on a mountainside. They carried all the little kids and bedridden people with them. Can't do it without them, apparently."
"A highly religious people, it sounds like." Kaguya took a closer look at Mokou's wounds, attempting to discern a pattern to them. The only one she could discover was that each cut was above a major vein. "And what are you to them? A talisman?"
Even with half of her face obscured by hair and dirt, Mokou's glower was scalding. "They think drinking my blood makes them long-lived."
"So that's why." It was fascinating how these concepts kept recurring among humans. "Perhaps they will re-consider once they bleed you dry."
There was an aggrieved silence.
"Or not," said Kaguya. "In any case, I'm surprised humans were able to trap you so decisively."
"It wasn't just humans."
Interesting. It was possible some old enemy of Mokou's had returned to roam the land, but Kaguya thought it more likely the humans had focused enough of their faith to give birth to a new god. Another reason why they could be so delightfully unpredictable.
She studied the bindings on Mokou's wrists with renewed interest. They were affixed in place with steel-coloured paper charms covered from one end to another in a golden script unfamiliar to Kaguya. Mokou was generally able to self-combust violently enough to destroy everything in her immediate vicinity not specifically warded against flames and heat. Suppressing her power as completely as these charms clearly did was no easy task.
Well, perhaps not completely. Upon closer inspection, the charms were ever so slightly singed where they rested against Mokou's wrists. Kaguya was struck with a vivid mental image of digging an escape tunnel with a spoon. "How long did this take you?"
When Mokou didn't respond, Kaguya made a rough estimate based on the last time Mokou had disgraced her doorstep. There was no telling how long she had actually served as a fountain of youth to a bunch of fanatic humans, but Kaguya assumed from the hollowness of her gaze that the tiny bit of progress had taken her years.
"Another two decades, give or take a year," she concluded out loud. "Assuming they don't replace the bindings."
The notion of making the charms eternal crossed her mind just then. She dismissed it. Mokou's reaction at being trapped forever would make her laugh, yes, but how long would that mirth last? She had no plans to underestimate the sheer boredom of eternity.
Instead, she straightened her back and gave Mokou a sweet smile. "Good luck. I will see you later."
She had already taken several steps away before a hoarse voice called after her. "Wait."
Kaguya took her time returning back to where Mokou was now stiffly pretending not to have said anything. "Yes?"
The ensuing silence was so complete it made the village feel like an ancient ruin. Finally, Mokou narrowed her eyes. "Forget it."
"Is it really that difficult?" Kaguya leaned in closer than she had meant to, suddenly all too aware of the stench of copper and sweat and unwashed hair radiating from Mokou. "All you need to do is say the word."
If looks could commit brutal murder. "Go hang yourself."
Kaguya made a show of re-examining the bindings, lowering her voice as she did so. "How many times have you bled out already? Or is it more typical for you to starve to death here? I hear that's highly unpleasant."
Mokou continued to attempt a stabbing through her gaze alone.
"But then, I suppose you're used to being treated like dirt. Now that I think about it, I'm starting to wonder if you don't simply enjoy it."
"Go die," Mokou said flatly.
"Fine. I'll leave you to your masochism."
She didn't bother to make another pretence of leaving. Her point was already made.
It took several more minutes, which Kaguya spent imagining the village bustling around them based on the stray clues left behind. Finally, Mokou spoke again in a toneless voice. "Free me."
"Is that the best you can do?"
There it was again, that look of blistering hatred. Kaguya had missed it. Clearly, she and Mokou had been getting along far too well for the past few centuries.
Despite the pride behind her glare, it took Mokou less time to speak again. "Please free me."
"And why should I do that? Because you think I'm gracious? Or kind?" Kaguya raised her sleeve to her mouth. "Charitable. That's the word I was looking for."
"Because you're charitable," Mokou spat out through gritted teeth.
"Charitable, and..."
"Gracious. And kind."
"Well." Kaguya lowered her hand and stepped away from Mokou. "Perhaps the next time we meet you will finally have learnt to lie sincerely."
The sound Mokou made as Kaguya left her behind was more subdued than Kaguya had anticipated. It was little more than a groan, its primary tone that of resignation. Still, there was an undercurrent of bestial rage in its echo which made it clear this slight would not soon be forgotten.
Kaguya smiled for the entire duration of the journey to the next village.
About two decades later, as Kaguya was taking in the night-time air and the distant lights of human habitation, she discovered that her skirt had abruptly caught on fire. She stood up abruptly, deciding not to fight the flames, and guided by a flash of insight rather than her conventional senses, looked up at the sky.
High above the treetops, rapidly descending and wreathed in a fiery aura so tremendous it swiftly turned the night into blazing daylight, a meteorite formerly known as Fujiwara no Mokou was on direct collision course with the Earth. Even from this distance, her voice rose above the crackling of flames.
"KAGUYAAAAA!"
"Ah." As painful as her immediate future was about to become, Kaguya found herself smiling. "I had almost forgotten."
After that, there was time for little else but being swallowed by the inferno.