16

Chapter 16: Out Into The Open

Chapter Text

"Are you sure you have everything you need?" I sigh as I respond again that 'yes I do have everything, mother.' I don't even have that many possessions to take with me! I grumble as Shuten laughs her ass off behind our mother. Seriously, I'm sixteen and I run a village! I can pack my own bag. "So you aren't bringing your bow?" I blush in embarrassment as my mother holds out my bow, an amused smirk affixed on her face. This, of course, sends my sister into another bout of laughter. Slinging the weapon over my shoulder, I lead my mother, sister, and Yaeko toward the exit to the pocket dimension.

The exit is hidden in the valley where my final trial was held to ensure that only those strong enough to leave could do so. Akio was more than happy to take up administrative duties in my absence, citing that 'It was his duty as my right-hand man' and generally making me cringe at how eager he was. I'll need to return at the start of every year to make sure the village hasn't gone up in flames and to name the new children. While the villagers were fine with me stopping the traditional slaughter the children went through, they demanded that I name the children personally in recompense. Apparently, since I named myself and my little sister, and the two of us are unnaturally strong, they believed that my naming their children would act as a blessing. Knowing this, I couldn't exactly refuse, and returning for a week or two would allow me to see who should be allowed to experience the outside world.

As we walked through the valley I took in the changes this place had gone through since I left. The conditions enforced upon the area by the swords presence, heavy fog, incredibly dense malicious Ki, crystalline growths, all ravaged the ecosystem. In the past year, due to the balance of natural Ki reaching equilibrium and the crystals receding, nature had begun to retake the area. Already you could see new growth sprouting through the ground, moss growing along the walls, small creatures making their homes. I could see this becoming a good spot for meditation in a decade or so.

My Ancestor hadn't been generous with details on where to find the exit, stating that 'You'll find it if you want to leave' and shrugging. Thankfully, I hadn't lost all my common sense in the years of senseless violence and quickly came up with a plan. Since humans were occasionally shepherded in by the Elder, it made sense that the exit had to be near the sanctuary where the feral Oni couldn't enter. I may have been able to fight off the feral Oni while protecting a human but I doubt the Elder could have, or that he would even bother doing something like that. Once in the sanctuary, I had far less ground to cover on finding the exit. The others, while I searched, watched my sister wade through the skeletons of the Oni that I left my last time here. Well, the ones that weren't burned to ash anyway.

To find the exit I employed a very simple philosophy. This pocket dimension couldn't be completely separate from the world around it. Not only do I doubt the original Ibaraki Douji had that level of ability with magic but this pocket dimension was filled with Ki. While Ki is naturally produced by life and breathed out into the world, the world was needed to maintain balance in the Ki. It would take a master Sage and Magician of absurd skill to produce an array to mimic the world's natural Ki cycle. So I sat and meditated in the center of the sanctuary, focusing on the most minuscule changes in the Ki around me until I found where the Ki connected to the outside world.

The problem with leaving, or at least leaving with so many people, is that the barrier wasn't meant to last forever. The whole idea of this village and the civilization that grew inside was to rebuild the population of the Oni; at the same time it was a eugenics program to breed the strongest possible race. Once the people reached a necessary level of strength, which would be measured by someone defeating the spirit of Ibaraki Douji, they were meant to go forth into the outside world and seek vengeance. The Elder managed to tear a hole into the boundary that allowed him to come and go occasionally. As much as I hate the man, he was able to create a fairly stable exit without the key, no small feat.

Once I found the tear it was suddenly clearly visible. A distortion in the rocky walls of the valley, the space rippling slowly. The closer I got to it the more visible it became. What's more, is that the damage it was doing to the barrier as a whole was clear to me. Every ripple would spread itself through the barrier as a whole and once it got to the far side it would bounce back. The more ripples that went out into the barrier the greater the pressure from interference space-time would become. Eventually, the interference pattern would build in intensity until the entire barrier collapsed. I don't think it would have lasted more than a few decades more, and each time he left or entered the process would accelerate. This is all strictly academic of course, the barrier was coming down today.

The main reason I put so much effort into training my people was that seclusion would do us no more good. We as a species weren't meant to hide and mill around in a small village for eternity. Oni hated to face the same challenges again and again with no end. Every fiber of our beings screamed to seek adversity, to roam, conquer, fight, live, and die. When the barrier comes down it won't be long before others investigate bringing danger with them. By sacrificing some time now, I made sure they'll survive long enough for something interesting to happen. My Ancestor doesn't care whether they live now just that they were given the tools to live, and I feel the same.

That isn't to say I wish for my people to fail or anything; I would be far happier if they rose to prominence with me as their leader. What I do wish for is that they grow stronger by forging their own paths now. The only thing left to do is to bring it down.

"Oi, can you guys stand back a bit now! I'm going to bring it down!" At my declaration, my mother wrangles Shuten into her grasp, and they back off to the other end of the clearing. I tried to think of the best way to do this but I don't have enough knowledge of magic or Youjutsu to bring down the barrier elegantly. What I did have, in spades, was raw power. Gripping the bone sword in my hand I release the full breadth of my power for the first time. The air erupts violently around me and the ground shatters beneath my feet; the natural Ki swirls towards me as I greedily drink it in my own Ki wafting off me in waves. I lift my sword over my head, Touki coating my body thickly and sliding up the sword itself. My toes curl, digging furrows in the dirt, as I grab every ounce of leverage possible. The muscles through my legs, up my core, through my shoulders, and along my arms tense in sequence; the sudden stillness is broken as the sword blurs downward, the Touki being dragged along the lightning-fast slash.

The barrier is cleanly cut along the trajectory of my swing and space shudders as it tries to maintain coherence. A sound like shattering glass fills the valley, echoing along the rocky outcropping. and the air buffets as it tries to equalize with the new flow. The surroundings warp as they try to catch up with the change in space-time that comes with reconnecting to the local plane. I'm forced to back up as the walls of the valley partially collapse and suddenly in front of me is a forest, now filled with dust and debris from the collapsing rock.

I sort of stare out blankly as I take in the change in scenery. I had expected the side of a mountain or something from the way our side of the pocket dimension was laid out. "That… was… amazing!" I'm interrupted from my thoughts by my sister tackle hugging me in the back. I manage to catch myself and not fall, spinning her around to my front. There are literal stars in her eyes as she stares up at me. "Teach me how to do that right now Onee-sama!"

Putting my sister down, I discreetly wipe the blood from my nose and maintain my dignified image. Ignoring the snickering from behind me, I pat Shuten on the head. "Mmm, you keep listening to me and you'll be that strong too one day, I promise!" Sheathing my sword on my back I pick my sister up and place her up on my shoulders. "Now I just need to figure out where we are. Once I figure that out we need directions to Kyoto."

Well, there is one way to figure out a general idea of where we are. With naught but a thought black flames coalesce into the figure of my Ancestor and he stares at me with a raised eyebrow. "What? Can't you figure it out yourself? I'm not just here for your amusement." I stare at the specter who is literally bound to me with a twitching eye. He is by definition only here for my amusement!

"Can you just tell me where you put this place? The sooner I know where I am the sooner I can start tracking down the people who destroyed the stronghold at Mt. Ooe." He has the nerve to pretend to think about it for a moment before capitulating. While he does so Shuten bats at the flames with her claws.

"We're a short distance from the Northwest flank of Mt. Fuji. There was a nice place here full of Yurei even during my time, all those spirits disrupt the Ki enough that the area is naturally malevolent; makes for a good hiding spot, especially from humans." I may not be well versed in Japanese locales, not being from here in my first life, but this place I know of.

"You put our village in Aokigahara! Really!?" I facepalm knowing full well that the circulation of Ki between the pocket dimension and the outside world was a two-way street. The amount of malevolent Ki that would seep out from such a large concentration of disgruntled Oni would be immense. The things that would do to a human psyche, well, it wouldn't be pretty.

"Huh, is that what it's called?" This moron. Why do I deal with this again? Oh ya, power. Since the last major eruption from Mt. Fuji was during the Heian period, the same general time as Ibaraki Douji's life, it makes sense that this wasn't yet a proverbial 'Sea of Trees'. The pocket dimension probably schismatized from local reality only a short time after the eruption. After that, the volcanic ash would have turned the area into the verdant ode to nature it is now.

If I remember correctly, Kyoto should be to the Southwest of here? Well, better start walking.