The Sword and Dinner

I am growing to despise paperwork.  It was not even as if I had the blade packed into my carry on luggage, and yet...form, after form, after form.  Do they honestly expect me to break into the baggage compartment, grab a sword, climb back to the passengers, and attack with it?

We arrived in Albany without real incident.  After the planning at the hotel was finished...well.  Moira-san and Alanna-san got too friendly, so I swiftly retired to my room to speak to the spirit of the sword we recovered.  It is called the Reza-Shouten.  It was not, as I suspected, of divine or infernal make.  An old blade, exceptionally well crafted, but one forged by mortal hands.  It seemed to be pleased to be in the hand of a daughter of Amaterasu.

The both of them need a sense of modesty, but I doubt they will listen to me.  In any event, we ended up getting in touch with the being we were sent to speak to, Muscowequan.  The dinner was lovely, and even had we not known he was not human, I would have at least suspected.  He had the eyes of a snake.  I do not know if the others noticed, and have decided not to bring it up yet.  Unfortunately, however, it turns out that a book that would have aided was was stolen.  So we get the pleasure of assaulting another possible Titanspawn operations base.

Moira-san and Aren-san can handle the subterfuge in dealing with the Professor Loki-sama wished discredited.  They can attend to it without my aid.  It would still be easier to simply destroy his notes and let that be the end of it.  It would serve the purpose, but..those two are set. I shall simply bend with the storm and let is pass.

Another Job

We finally returned to the cabin after a long walk, just as the sun was coming up.  I would have liked to enjoy it, but I think around this group, silence is going to be a far more precious commodity.  Especially when kami from other pantheons come to visit.  When we arrived, Aren-san's father, Loki, was waiting for us.  I said...very little, save beyond being as polite as possible.  It seems unwise to offend a trickster.

Alanna-san does not seem to like him.  From what I gathered, Moira-san had a relationship with the deity.  That kind.  It also turns out that he is the one who funded the cabin.  And, in fact, had stopped by to get our words on what had happened.  He helped me look over the recovered documents...much I did not understand.  I will review the scrolls after finding a way to send my copies back home.  Mother and the others will wish to see them...especially as they were written in Japanese.  Aren-san....would make an excellent scribe, as she is the one who made all the copies.  I do not know if she understood what was written aside from our discussions of it.  I will have to ask her if she reads Japanese soon.

Our next mission...I am not entirely sure of.  Loki-sama had some information, and we are headed to New York.  The province...state.  Not the city.  To the University of Albany, to speak to an American kami.  Muscowequan.  This one seems to be on the proper side, though some of it's cousins have gone over to the Great Enemy.  We have been told that this one knows, or may know, where the next town to disappear is.  We may have a chance to stop it.  Our task is to track it down at a conference at the university.

Loki-sama...also set us on a personal errand.  Mother, I am not certain about this one.  Loki-sama, a couple hundred years ago, crafted an object called the 'Kensington Stone'.  An American professor believes he can prove it is a fake, and Loki-sama wishes us to...discredit him, so the little fabrication can be kept going.  Loki-sama's price for the information about Muscowequan.  This...does not feel right.  I would prefer to have nothing to do with it, but, there may be little choice.  Perhaps I will see if I can attend to speaking to Muscowequan, and let one or all of the others do what they must.  I am...confused.

I spoke at length with the mask Alanna-san recovered from Hideki.  It seemed...innocent of his treachery.  It claims it would aid in battle, and had no seeming compunctions about being used in battle against more Tengu.  I warned Alanna-san to be wary, but returned it to her.  The katana...I have not had a chance to speak to it, yet.  I would prefer a time of quiet.  Given what I was taught, I would prefer to talk to such a...focused spirit without distraction.

I have no way to hide it if we do not go by car, however.  And I am...loathe to leave such a weapon to be recovered by an enemy patrol.  I suppose Moira-san could figure out -something- if it came to it.

Tunnel Snakes

It was worse then I believed, mother, yet in the end we've won a victory.  Perhaps not as solid of one as we would have hoped, but we've yet to really go over what was recovered from under the mountain.  We've done well, I think, given what we had to start with.  But that is, as yet, not for me to truly judge.  I do not know if, or how, the others report back to their parents.  I would hope so.  T

We entered the mountain not long after the Bright One was cut down by the Shinobi.  Torches kept the base lit - I wonder that they did not simply set up portable generators and use electricity.  Tradition?  We do not know yet if the Fomorians, or one of Mikaboshi's lieutenants was in charge, though given what we found later, I suspect the latter.

With the sentries eliminated, there was no resistance for some time.  We reached what amounted to a kitchen, and I had begun to wonder.  This tunnel must have gone down a good deal.  It could have held hundreds of Fomorians and Shinobi for all we still know, we did not explore the entirety of the complex.  As Alanna-san, choosing a poor time to do so, made a meal, I traveled back down the tunnel.  Something in your blood just told me to go.  As I listened, the words and gestures needed to create a sort of silent alarm across the tunnel came to me.  Thank you, mother, for this gift.  I have not done so before, but this sort of thing...it can and will save lives, mother.

Moira-san found tracks for us.  One branch led to a bedroom, with a hound of the Great Enemy within.  It did not breach the door when it was slammed shut.  The other contained a study of some sort, a handful of Shinobi, another hound, and what I believe to be the leader.

The creature's name was Hideki, and it was a Tengu.  With the Shinobi following it's orders, it could only have fallen into service of Mikaboshi.  It lies dead under the mountain, but...it took an incredible amount of damage, mother.  There should be swifter ways of dealing with such a creature beyond bludgeoning it to death before someone finally manages to find a weak spot. The Shinobi were effectively distracted by Moira-san and Aren-san.  I am still unsure of what happened after, but somehow, the scattered papers had caught fire.

Aren-san recovered some of them.  I have no idea how she managed to always grab ones that were not aflame, but she did.  Alanna-san recovered the Tengu's katana as well as the creature's mask. I fully intend to study them later.  Perhaps by speaking to their kami, we can learn more.  I only hope that they have not been corrupted utterly by their proximity to Hideki.  

We escaped through a hidden tunnel.  Something...happened in that tunnel, mother.  It is almost as if something prodded the divine flame within me.  There is new strength now...but I have had little enough time to discover it.  We've still yet to clean up after the attack, and I have yet to sleep.  It hasn't yet troubled me, but I believe I would like to.

There is nothing else of note to mention.  Nothing more then the usual strangeness of comments between Alanna-san and Moira-san.  Even if they both tried and failed to convince me that the other was the greater pervert.  I have no interest at all in discovering the answer to that mystery.  No one has an interest in discovering that answer.  Not if they value their sanity or their dignity.

Merry Band of Misfits

I have, until now, put aside one task Mother wished for me.  I think now I have enough of an impression of the others to carry it out.  I write their names in the Western tradition, Mother, should you find your way to read these words.

Aren Alsgaard is the only one of us without some form of combat training.  This does not make her less of a warrior, her battleground is merely in the field of the spoken word.  Our diplomat, I suppose.  She does not seem to share the self-confidence I've sensed in the others and remains apparently nervous much of the time.  I may be misjudging, of course.  It could be that she is adjusting to this situation as much as I am.  That seems more likely, when I think on how she was the first day before we ventured to where the town used to be.

Moira Daegr is with us as well.  One or two of her books had ended up at the shop second-hand.  The picture on the back cover was obviously studio work.  Had I only that picture and her "work" to judge her by, I would guess her a soulless abomination that preys on the inspiration of the true artists.  In person, however, she is a great deal more interesting then I would have suspected.  Overly dramatic, still, but Moira has vitality.  Passion, a great deal of it if even half of the remarks she throws at Alanna are any indication.  If she channeled some of that spirit and heart into her work, perhaps I would not be tempted to use her novels as kindling.  I pray, with all my heart, that she never discovers that I worked where I did.  I am not a very good liar.

The last is Alanna Morgan.  Like Moira, she is of the Tuatha.  She is frequently sarcastic and rude, though unless my instincts are wrong, she has a good heart underneath that.  She is not one to shy away from anything she deems necessary.  Or a fight.  Or the scandalous barbs she fires back at Moira.  I admit, I was even surprised when she thought, before we ventured to the enemy's lair, to make sure I would not 'hate her forever' if and when she had to kill the Bright One.  That she seems to value the opinion of a person who was, at the time, effectively still a strange speaks well of her character.  Regardless of how much she tries to hide it behind the persona of a grizzled detective who spoils for the next brawl.

Shifting Breeze

Much of import, yet little enough time.  And so few certainties.  Not enough time has passed to think clearly, perhaps, but maybe putting things to paper will help.  It could not hurt, and it seems better that there is some record, as I do not know if the others collect their thoughts as well.

Aren-san was our main voice during the interrogation of the Bright One.  I was, admittedly, not enthusiastic about our chances of learning anything useful.  Both Moira-san and Alanna-san gave their advice on what to ask, but I could think of little.  Both of them have been in such situations before, it seems, and the closest I've come is reading a mystery novel.  It occurs that it may have been wiser to ensure I had proper training in such things, but I understand that both Mother and her siblings had little time to spare.  I hold no ill will.

As Aren-san began to speak, Moira-san did what she could.  Proper repairs could not be done, but heavy blankets were secured to the door frames as myself and Alanna-san stood watch.  I did not expect an attack, but I believe she did.  I think some of Aren-san's gifts were used.  My eyes were on the outside, but my ears told me as much.  The creature talked.  Sort of.  Alanna-san's sharp tongue did not help matters.  I still don't believe that despite her history, any of them understand that the 'bad cop' goes first, and allows the 'good cop' to put a stop to things, to present a more sympathetic light.  Most of the speaking, intitially, was actually just arguing over whether or not the Bright One would be put down, or leave unhurt.

I had prepared to call what I could of the just against the wretch, but it proved unnecessary.  It would have been also an act of anger, despite the creatures crimes.  Passion has it's place - justice where the end result can be a blade to the neck should not be it.  But my meditation exercises held, and the need to strike even with my own words and accusations passed.  After Aren-san was satisfied with her information for the moment, we conferred.  Alanna-san wished to simply beat the rest of the answers out of her.  For my part, as I didn't expect even what we had, suggested simply putting the heads of the beasts in pikes at their crater as a warning to any who came looking.  Moira-san, however, simply acted.  One of her gifts, I suspect.  She tricked the Bright One into believing we were agents of the Great Enemy.

It worked like a charm.  As they say in movies, the Bright One 'spilled the beans'.  Such as it is.  While she did not have much operational information, she did tell us where the Great Enemy's base in the region was.  We also had a name of the one who seemed to be in charge.  Hideki.  Had it been possible without breaking whatever spell Moira-san used, I would have asked more about this one.  It was not to be.

As we prepared to 'return to base', Alanna-san pulled me aside.  She wished to know how I would feel about simply executing the Bright One the moment her usefulness was at an end.  I admit, and told her as such, that it would be the wisest course.  Would I enjoy such a thing?  The answer is still the same.  I would not.

We were attacked on our way to the base.  The Bright One was the only one to fall.

They were the servants of Mikaboshi.  The dread shinobi.  It took a moment to recognize them from the scroll Mother gave me.  The strange thing is...I believe the Bright One was their only target.  None of us were touched.  This is...unsettling.  We could not pursue, or call to battle then.  The sun was falling, and it would have been slaughter to fight such creatures in the night.  We proceeded on foot.  It was not difficult to find our way, even as the sun vanished behind the mountains.

The lair of the Great Enemy lay ahead.  I think that moment was the first time I truly missed my quiet life, dealing with foolish tourists both home and foreign born at the shrine and the book store.

Though the earth trembles...

I have excused myself from the others, for now.

I write as I sit on the roof of the cabin, able to stand my watch, and to be left alone with my thoughts.  I thought to sit down and try to paint, but I've no supplies.  I can send for some.  Perhaps doing something for each of the others will help my understanding of them.  They still puzzle me.

Moira-san seems to believe that being throw out of a window by the Great Enemy's spawn was all part of a clever scheme.  Something in me doubts this.  But it does not matter, come the end.  It did not take long for us to surround the cabin, both the girl and her troops still inside.  After Alanna-san managed to disable a trap laid at the back door, we all moved in to assault the entrances.  The enemy did not really stand much of a chance.  The common rabble were dispatched with frightening ease as soon as the girl was disabled.

Alanna-san was right.  It was worse, this time.  I excused myself after cleaning my naginata's blade to check the perimiter.  I'm sure she realized the excuse.  She has a sharp eye.  And tact enough to let me tend to my own troubles.  But I have been taught that the fear is always there.  All that matters is how it is confronted.  In time, I will be able to properly hold it at bay and deal with it in my own time.  For now, solitude is the solution.

I may bring this up quietly with Alanna-san, but Aren-san may need training.  I have no wish to shame her, but I do not wish to see anyone hurt because she was unable to fight.  I will have to think on this some more.  Perhaps I should talk to her alone?  We shall see.  There is little that can be done now.  Patience is as much a weapon or shield as valor.

Moira-san is calling.  It seems she's prepared a meal.  There has been no sign of further intrusion.  I will have to trust to my instincts for now, and worry less.

At Dawn of the Fifth Day

The soldiers of the enemy were slain.

There is little to say of the battle, even if most of it weren't a blur of half-formed memories.  The only clear moments were at the end, when I brought my naginata's blade down on the neck of what the others called a Fomorian.  It is strange, there was almost no resistance at all when I landed that one solid blow.  The other strikes had only really wounded the beast.  Is death simply a whisper as the old poems say?  Even for a beast of the Great Enemy?

All else I recall was just the outright terror.  I do not think any of the others but Alanna-san noticed.  She told me that the first time was hard, and that the second would be worse because I would be thinking about how terrifying the first was.  I suspect she is correct in that.  In either case, I must work on control.  Even the slightest hint must remain hidden so that whatever I face cannot exploit it.

There was what seemed to be a survivor of the devastation inside the pit the beasts had crawled from.  The beasts had taken an eye from the girl.  With little other choice, Moira-san went ahead with her to the cabin while the girl called someone to take her to a hospital.  We had been intending to follow the tracks we had found in hopes of finding more clues.  But Moira-san called over the radio, using code Alanna-san recognized to mean that there was trouble.  As we began to run back, she explained that the girl had, in fact, been a 'Bright One', a sort of general for the Fomorians.

And Moira-san was alone with her, and there were other beasts on the way.  Aren-san had to be carried by Alanna-san, she just couldn't keep up with the strange Irish woman or myself.   When we finally arrived at the cabin, it was in time to see Moira-san be thrown out of one of the windows.  If we were to be tested again so swiftly, then I saw little point in trying to avoid it.  I would face them head on, and let the kami decide my fate.

Day One

The book itself appears to be a simple, black leather bound diary.  It is the lock that's unusual.  There's no obvious keyhole.


The world is strange.

Some might have said this was abundantly obvious, but things never seemed that way.  The first sign should have been the shrine, for no obvious reason, taking on the land and tax bills for my family's home after father died.  But that things seemed so stable after that, who would have argued the point?  I certainly did not.  They even agreed to take me on to work there without most of their standard checks.  I was accepted far too fast.  And I still did not question.

Perhaps I should.

But hindsight is perfect.  I discovered, one day, the truth behind the absence of my mother.  I was summoned, one afternoon, to the inner shrine buildings - to the very building dedicated to Amaterasu.  There, I finally met my mother.  Should I have wondered more at this woman, claiming to be great Sun Goddess herself?  Who could have?  The very idea was too ludicrous to make up, and even then there was something unearthly about her.  She explained the simple truths of my life, and my heritage.  She gave me the information I needed and artifacts to help, and then...

I understand why I am sitting here now in a cabin in a remote part of America.  There is too much that demands their own attention, so the great kami send their children to discover what is taking towns, down to the last nail.  I just wish...Aren-san is not so bad, I suppose.  The others, Alanna and Moira, are...loud.  And certainly spirited.  It is like I am trapped living with drunken tourists with no sense of shame, sometimes.  But I have only known them for a few days.  Perhaps I have missed something.

After settling into this cabin, our small group headed down to the town we were to start our investigation in.  There was nothing there.  The whole area just wiped clean.  At least, that was before one of the Great Enemy's soldiers attacked us.