The Shrine of a Mountain 1

[Somewhere in an important shrine in the Nara prefecture]

"Ōkami-Sama," the elderly priest stopped and bowed discreetly as those trailing behind halted and also gave the discreet nod. Alex kept his mouth shut, following the cue from Yata.

With a wave of Ōmononushi's hand, the trail of priests continued on their way to the grand shrine, crunching through the gravel in their black clogs, a large wooden stilted complex with its thatched roof and golden detailing.

A fervent crowd of humans was already inside the main hall of the shrine, sitting on the foldable stools in silence, awaiting the prayer ceremony with their heads bowed in reverence.

A small queue of worshippers stood on the stone laid path before the shrine's large donation box, which separated the main hall from the outside, making their little requests or thanking the Kami, Ōmononushi himself.

"Avoid the main shrine," Ōmononushi said as they continued walking towards a large path around the mountain, exiting the grand shrine complex. "Some of those priests have the sight. Less seen, the better."

"Then… why um take us past there if the priests can see us?"

"To show off," Orochi replied. "Besides, only some priests can see. No thanks to my dear friend here."

"See?"

"Some humans possess a special sight by birth, usually boosted by a genetic lucky draw. In the past, we used to recruit them into our service but now… they are recruiting themselves into our services which we don't use," Ōmononushi shrugged.

"Nothing like self paying employees," Orochi chuckled.

"Can't complain, besides never say never. Better to keep them around as a back-up plan."

"I can talk to them?" Alex asked.

Ōmononushi chortled at Alex's remark while Orochi snickered along. "The sight only shows us as blurred figures. Speech is different. You either need to cross the veil of the hidden dimension or learn how to throw your voice across."

"Say Yata, can you throw your voice across?" Alex nudged Yata, who shook his head. "Too difficult. I need to cross."

Five hundred-year-old Yata couldn't do it. Alex silently bemoaned his fate of being less than a month old in the hidden dimension. How long will Alex take to throw a voice across the veil like a ventriloquist?

"With time, you will learn how to control your presence between the physical world and the hidden dimension," Ōmononushi said. "Baby steps. You are an infant compared to us here."

As they approached a large Torii gate, four meters high, albeit still smaller than the main one, Ōmononushi eyed the human visitors before walking in the center path, while the kodama peeped out from the trees, watching the great Mishakuji and his visitors.

Alex followed along and suddenly found the scenery changed. They had skipped past the other shrines scattered in front of the Torii gate and ported straight to a mid-sized shrine, a third or even less of the grand shrine size. The shrine housed a booth on the side, with ten individuals queuing there and chatting with each other.

Entering the main hall of the shrine, Ōmononushi made use of the space by conjuring eight barrels of sake from thin air.

"Wait, can't the humans see those?" Alex and Yata said in unison.

"Do you think we are at your level?" Orochi's reptilian slits widened a little as he took a barrel while Ōmononushi leaned against the screen door, popping the lid of the sake barrel and pouring its contents into his mouth.

"Good sake," Orochi commented as he inspected the barrel.

"I don't get why the rest keep hunkering over the damn KFC," Ōmononushi grumbled.

"You are far more well resourced than most of them. Some live in the crowded Suwa shrines and what's not, while you have an entire mountain and other primeval beings as tenants," Orochi said.

"As would you if you followed my strategy in the good old days. You did the opposite, lie low later."

The sounds of a coin tinkering in the box and claps distracted them as Orochi made himself comfortable leaning on the front altar. A few elderly men paid their respects by a bow, unaware of his presence, while Orochi wore a sly grin on his face.

"Sake?" Ōmononushi patted an unopened barrel as an offer in front of Alex and Yata, who both shook their heads politely with his eyes trained in one direction - the approaching human visitors at the side.

"Can I ask you a question?" Alex asked.

"You already asked," Ōmononushi replied.

Alex sighed at the rhetorical answer given to his rhetorical question. The sarcasm of both Ōmononushi and Orochi were too alike.

"Ahhh, just go ahead."

"Why here? Is it for the peace and quiet? Because people are still in front of us."

"Shall I answer it for you, or do you want to answer that?" Orochi turned to Ōmononushi who nodded his approval.

Orochi got up, sat down next to Ōmononushi on the side, who grew suspicious and shuffled his bum away. He threw his arm around Ōmononushi's neck and squeeze him closer while Alex crunched up his nose in utter disbelief and turned to Yata, who shrugged.

"We're here to check out any chicks climbing the mountain," Orochi said as Ōmononushi spewed his sake out in response to his answer.

"What did you think I would say?" Orochi said with an even wider grin on his face.

"Something better from your imagination," Ōmononushi wiped his sleeve across the sake running down his mouth.

"Wait, what about the Miko girls who serve the shrine?"

"Seen any you fancy?" Ōmononushi raised his eyebrow at Alex as a new barrel appeared while the empty one vanished.

Alex could only shake his head in response. None were in sight as compared to the grand shrine.

"A long time ago, they used to offer virgin girls to my service, pure and innocent." Ōmononushi continued his gaze towards the crowds while Alex choked on his wistful, yet disturbing, words.

"Clear the dirty thoughts. Innocent humans were easier to control, and I don't sleep with the help." Ōmononushi lifted a barrel of sake to dunk its contents. "I just don't enjoy listening to their complaints about their boyfriends."