E20: Truth is Inevitable

"Did you drop off Herveen and Pearl?" Mizuki said, walking back up the forest with her trusted Shirohebi. Anna nodded, also carrying a basket of fruits. "It was so nice for the mom to give us food, but, aren't these demon fruits?"

"We technically are demons," Mizuki said, picking up one that looked like a grape, but was translucent and purple. "So demon grapes."

"I rather keep my purity, thank you," Anna said. "I still want to toss the basket."

"You can give it to someone, but tossing it would simply be rude," Mizuki said. "Even if they would not see it happen."

"Yet, giving it away is allowed?"

"We are just passing it along, wink wink," Mizuki said, winking twice.

"That is not how you do a double wink."

"Wot?"

"You are not supposed to wink and say 'wink' out loud. It is poor taste."

"I was obviously joking," Mizuki said. "Wait, where are we going?"

"Walking back home, obviously," Anna said, stopping.

"Yes, but why are we walking?"

"I do not know, Mistress, I am not the Ryu in charge." Mizuki pouted and opened a portal to the roof of the temple, Anna clutching the basket so it didn't blow away in the wind. "Mistress, is it me, or is this place a bit breezy today?"

"It could be a wind spirit or yokai," Mizuki said, looking up and around. She saw Marsaw hovering above, blowing gusts of wind to them with her wing flaps. "Or just one poofy bird."

"Where is your Mistress Marsaw?" Anna called to her, Marsaw coming down and landing beside them. "Hoot."

"Right, you don't speak words." Marsaw went over to the roof latch, opening it with a talon. "Hoot."

"Yes! She can show us where she is, if that is what she means," Mizuki said, putting a finger on her chin. "But, why would Nabu be inside?"

"That is my question since I asked Sana of all people to watch over…"

The two of them entered the temple, following Marsaw down the steps. She came to the dining-room door, knocking against it with her wing.

"But we already had our food," Mizuki said. Marsaw opened the door, showing the scene that had taken place. Tamiko looked distraught, her head jerking up when she heard the click of the door. Mizuki walked in and froze, seeing all the slimes immobilized on the floor, Nabu and Sana resting and bit Injured, and Tamiko subdued completely. "Ah-"

(Starts from Mizuki and Anna walking into the room)

In an instant, Tamiko saw her last chance to possible escape, and as stacked as it seemed right now, she wasn't going to let it be squandered. "Mother!" Tamiko said, tears welling up in her eyes. Anna, not wanting to be a part of this, decided to leave for the moment.

"Daughter! What are you all doing to her?" Mizuki cried, coming over and pushing Namaru off of her. "Hey, what are you doing?" Namaru asked after being shoved aside.

"I should be asking you the same question," Mizuki said, clutching Tamiko tightly while she cried. "Sneaking in and trying to harm my daughter? That is a new low, even for you!" She looked at Sana and Nabu. "And you two! Nabu, I trusted you, but now, after all this?" Nabu stared blankly, blood still slowly rolling out of her nose. Sana clutched her throat, confused about which side the Ryu was on. "She tried to enslave us," She said, her voice still hoarse from the collar.

"And kill us, and me, again!" Namaru said. "If anything, she should be put on trial!"

"Enough with the accusations, I've lived with her since last year, and I have never seen any proof of anything you all are saying!"

"Had she ever told you where she went during the last meeting?" Nabu asked, casting a side glance at Tamiko. Tamiko's tears stopped momentarily, stunned by the prospect that she still hadn't said anything to Mizuki. Before Mizuki could answer, Tamiko turned her mother around, facing her away from the group. She was frantic on the inside, trying to contain the damage. "Don't listen to anything she says, she's still trying to frame me. That day was not important at all, I just had an accident, I swear on my very powers…"

"Sweetie," Mizuki said, "We're mother and daughter, right?"

"Of course!"

"And that means we share a special bond, right?" Mizuki said, seeming to search for words as much as Tamiko.

"Undoubtedly!"

"Then…" She started, sliding Tamiko's arms off. "If that day wasn't as special, you should be able to tell your mother, right?"

"…."

"I, can't trust you if you won't say anything," Mizuki said. "Please, tell me if you really are innocent."

"I am…"

"Then why did you look so hurt that day? Why do all four of you look like you have fought a war in one afternoon? And what are you hiding from me?" Mizuki clutched her daughter's hands. "I won't be mad."

Tamiko started sentences but kept cutting herself off as she realized. Even if she did lie, Nabu was still here, and probably had another plan for the moment her silver tongue went into action. At least, Tamiko thought she did. "Well," Tamiko started, looking down. "My last mother said the same thing…"

I wasn't some homeless girl that was unloved. I didn't go day to day wondering when my next meal would be, or if someone would ever take pity on me and become my guardian. I had two loving parents, and a loaf of bread and stew to eat every day.

Although, my mom and dad would constantly tell me everything that I did wrong. 'Don't start a fire in the house,' They said. 'Remember to feed the goat', they said. 'Why are you always reading in the dark? You will get your eyes taken', they said.

"I just want to say, your eyes could have very well be taken by a Yokai. Or Namaru," Nabu pointed out. Tamiko looked at her with disdain. "Would you let me tell my own life? You have already won," Tamiko said irritated. Nabu apologized and bowed, and the Nureonago took a deep sigh before continuing.

I know now that those were just normal, mother and father things to tell to a daughter, but it just happened so, so often…that, I started lying. It was small, just forgetting to sometimes move a basket of wheat, and saying I did it before actually going to move it. But it seemed to work so much that I started doing it too often. For once, they did not pick on every little thing I did, but at the cost of believing things that I never did at all.

One day, my father wanted me to go deliver a wagon full of fruits to a customer. He thought that since I was doing so well, I could be trusted with what would pay for most of our food. When he found out that I lied about doing it and the gold was never given…

"Sheesh…." Nabu commented, seeing to physically wince.

Y-yes, sheesh…there was a lot of yelling, and I decided that I wasn't going to take it anymore. So, I left.

It was a rough time, but I was so good at lying that I was able to trick people to get by, until the guards found out about me, and then I was just shunned completely. I felt so hopeless then, she said, looking at her slimy hands. Powerless, alone, and close to just dying from hunger. I hated it, I hated everyone, and I hated the world for giving me this terrible, horrible life. And the world listened.

"This must be where I come in," Mizuki said. Tamiko nodded. The storm part, it really was true, but I wasn't accepted after that. I never gave my old village the time to even try, before I had it washed away into the horizon…

It felt freeing, in a morbid way. Here I was, standing on the ruins of a town that had banished me, and parents that were more controlling than the demons I had heard about in tales, as I thought at the time. All it took was me becoming a demon in the process, but I didn't care, and I still don't. I was a deity, and I had the power to do whatever I wanted..."

Sana: "And then you went after Amaterasu's Son." (>_>)

Namaru: "And then me, which I will keep yelling until the end!"

"And you roped me into the process," Mizuki said, her head falling into her lap distraught. "My head hurts…"

"I didn't mean to hurt you; well, I did back then, but now, I realized that you were the only person that truly cared about me," Tamiko said. "Please mother, I will do whatever you wish, I don't want to lose the only family I have left." Mizuki turned away, having curled up into a ball with her tail. "Mother," Tamiko urged on, putting her hand on a part of her tail. " I know you can't forgive me, but tell me what I can do for retribution."

"For one, you can hide your diary better," said someone at the door. "Everyone turned to Anna," who was holding a generic-looking notepad. "My Diary!" Tamiko yelled. "Please, don't read it, my thoughts are too-"

"Too late," Anna said, tossing Tamiko the pad. "Although, I forgive you."

"What?" Tamiko said, catching it.

"Not for hurting other Yokai, but for going through a few mortals in the process," Anna said. "We have all been there, at our point where our dismay for humanity makes us due to things that we normally wouldn't as human beings."

Namaru: "That is part of my literal nature, so I unfortunately agree."

Nabu: "My bouts were more of "accidents", per se…."

Sana just looked on with a disgusted face, wondering what happened when she was not around. "Well except Sana it seems," Anna said nonchalantly. "But, the difference is, we each have someone in our lives that reigns in our tendencies. Nabu has the goddess of the sun, Namaru has her, erm,"

"Pet."

"I am not using that word," Anna said, "And now, we have Mizuki. That is if she forgives you." Anna went over to Mizuki, tapping her shoulder. "Mistress?"

"Hrm?" Mizuki said, her noise muffled by her mouth pressed against her scales.

"Your daughter wishes to make up with you."

"Nmmhmm," Mizuki said.

"What if she goes through the trial?" Anna asked. "It is only right to face repercussions at the highest level, isn't it?" Mizuki thought about it and nodded. "Well, there is your answer," Anna said. Tamiko looked back at Mizuki once, and nodded, going to Nabu. She held her hands out, keeping her wrists closed together. "I wish to turn myself in," she stated with a new resolve in her gleam.

"Finally," Nabu said. "You have no idea how much those words are pleasing to hear."

­­­­Tamiko spent the next three moons stuck in a room at Amaterasu's house. While she didn't resist the entire time, any other place was considered too easy for her power to cheese her way out of, so why not go overboard and make her have to go through Ganan.

Of course, Ganan was highly disappointed when she was told she couldn't punish herself, as well as when Tamiko turned out to be highly docile in her cell. The first time Vargas saw her, he avoided that hallway like a plague, having recovered from the effects of her power and unwilling to risk it again. Virto was also nowhere to be seen, although he would rarely be the one that brings her food to her.

"So, do slimes eat?" Virto curiously asked while bringing her dinner.

"No," Tamiko said.

That was the most interaction she had for a while. She did her hardest to make sure all that happened was self-given, refusing to come out early; even when Amaterasu had grown tired of keeping her in a bedroom without any sunlight.

Then came the day of the trial. According to everyone, it was the first one that had been had in generations, so it was very impromptu put together. The Judge's stand was hastily crafted by Nabu since all the wood Yokai were busy fixing up the trees for summer. The defendant's seat was just the living room couch. Virto volunteered to put together the gavel but accidentally made a mallet instead.

It's safe to assume not even Amaterasu remembered how to do this properly.

"My son-in-law promised to show me these so-called "Olympics" this week, so let us make this quick, shall we?" Amaterasu said Tamiko nodding. Everyone else wasn't in the room, leaving just the two of them face to face. Tamiko always thought of the sun goddess as an elegant, eternal being that moved the sun with the grace of a ballerina, and the regality of a ruler. She had mimicked her entire public image after her, after all.

She still thinks that but seeing her with spa cucumbers over her eyes and her hair down kind of ruins the fantasy. Wait, has she been walking around blind this entire time?

"Yes, yes I have been walking around with these over my eyes," Amaterasu said. "With great power comes a great responsibility, and a great need of a spa day, my back just aches…"

"W-wait you can read my mind?" Tamiko said, immediately prostrating herself before her. "I am sorry my highness, I beg for forgiveness!"

"Relax darling, I just do that for a bit of fun," Amaterasu said, waving it off. "It always gets first-timers off guard, it's so humorous. Now then, a few human lives lost don't cause for concern, but the Yokai Association has documented quite a few infractions here…if you were anyone else, you would most likely be given the death penalty."

"Ehhhhhh…." Tamiko had fully accepted that she could very well be screwed, but sweat started coming down her neck regardless.

"However, you have been brought up with quite the special gift, I hear," the sun goddess said. "It would be nice to have another Nabu around, so ending your existence would just be a waste."

"I am eternally grateful for your leniency," Tamiko said with as much earnest as she could.

"Save your gratefulness for after the sentencing. Has Nabu already informed you of the power you possess?"

"Yes, your highness,"

"Then you can probably guess what your punishment will be." Without even a flick of a finger, the same collar Tamiko had created appeared on herself, making her grip her seat as she endured the pain of her ability being turned on herself. The leash was attached to Amaterasu's hand, disappearing once completely.

"Frankly I'm disappointed. Nabu had told me about this enslavement ability with the shadows, but looking at you writhe in pain, it is clear that it is too unpolished to be given out to new Yokai. Very well then. You first shall perfect your creation, and only then will you start to bring balance back to the world."

"Agh…." Tamiko stuck her tongue out, a bad taste in her mouth left by the collar. "May I asked how long this will take?"

"If I told you, you would rather die. I would ask Nabu," she said. "But, you will be allowed a few certain visitors." The door opened as soon as Amaterasu finished talking, Tamiko turning around clutching her collar. Her eyes widened when she saw Mizuki smiling, peeking around the door in a sundress. Her cheeks flushed red, unable to contain her smile for her mother. "Am I interrupting?" Mizuki asked.

Tamiko shook her head, getting up to go give her a big hug. "No," she said. "Not at all."