Secrets Century

An hour passed, during which Senzai remained unnervingly quiet, flipping through his pages in slow, deliberate motions. Hikaru and Lina exchanged glances but said nothing, letting the book process whatever existential crisis he was apparently having.

Finally, Senzai let out a long, exaggerated sigh. "Okay. I think I get it now."

Ayami, who had been lounging on the couch with her arms crossed, smirked. "Took you long enough."

"No one can use magic freely anymore," Senzai muttered, as if saying it out loud made it more real. "Unless they're blessed by a god… which means… all those centuries of magic, all those grand spells and arcane arts, they're gone…"

Ayami shrugged. "Yup."

Senzai made a distressed noise. "I can't believe this! I'm a book of knowledge! A guide to the mystical! And you're telling me I've been locked away so long that magic itself has been rendered useless!?"

Ayami chuckled. "Kinda funny, isn't it? All that 'vast, nearly infinite knowledge,' yet you didn't even know the most basic fact about the world you're in now." She leaned forward with a smirk. "Some scholar you are."

Senzai sputtered. "I—I've been vacuum-sealed in a forgotten shelf for who knows how long! How was I supposed to keep up with current events!?"

Hikaru snickered. "Man, that's rough."

Lina shook her head. "So much for 'nearly infinite knowledge.'"

"You all suck," Senzai grumbled.

Senzai grumbled incoherently for a while, his pages ruffling like someone aggressively shuffling papers on their desk.

Ayami, still thoroughly amused, leaned her chin on her hand. "So, oh great and mighty book of wisdom, now that you've caught up with reality, what's your plan?"

"My plan," Senzai huffed, "was originally to offer you all invaluable knowledge in exchange for breaking my seal. But now I see that knowledge alone isn't enough—you people don't even use magic anymore! This world is completely different from the one I knew!"

"I can," Hikaru said flatly.

"I also can," Lina added.

Ayami smirked. "You literally saw me shapeshift earlier."

Senzai went completely silent.

For the second time that night, he felt incredibly dumb.

Senzai didn't speak for a long moment. His pages barely even moved, as if he was processing a reality he hadn't been prepared for.

"Wait. Wait, wait, wait," he finally sputtered. "Are you telling me that despite magic being gone, despite gods being unable to wield their own power freely—you three can still use magic?"

"Looks that way," Hikaru said, leaning back in his chair.

Lina gave a casual shrug. "It's not that strange. Some people still have magic, mostly those who come from old bloodlines. It's just that the gods made it so their power is the only kind most people can access now."

Senzai made a strangled sound, like a scholar having an existential crisis. "Then why hasn't anyone written about this? Why was this knowledge lost?! I—I was SEALED, not dead! How did I miss something this important!?"

Ayami chuckled, clearly enjoying his suffering. "Guess you're not as all-knowing as you thought."

Senzai groaned. "I swear I was only sealed for a few centuries! What the hell happened while I was gone?"

"Since when, exactly?" Lina asked.

"Like… back when there were only two major religions? And then a new one appeared, and some guy claimed to be a prophet?"

Lina blinked. "...That sounds ancient."

"Did you sleep through everything?" Hikaru asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, no, I just woke up like a year ago," Senzai said casually.

Ayami smirked. "Yeah, well, judging by your timeline, you're probably, what... a hundred thousand years old?"

Senzai let out another strangled noise. "WHAT?!"

Senzai's pages flapped wildly, like a bird having a panic attack. "That's ridiculous! I can't be that old! I would remember if I were some kind of ancient relic!"

Ayami leaned back, arms crossed. "Would you, though? Because from what I'm seeing, you've been sealed so long that the world moved on without you. Gods have lost their power, magic is restricted, and yet you're still acting like you know everything."

Senzai sputtered. "I do know everything!"

Lina gave him a flat look. "Except, apparently, anything that's happened in the last few thousand years."

Hikaru chuckled. "Kinda funny, actually. You spent all that time locked away, and now you're just… outdated."

"Outdated?!" Senzai gasped, as if they had personally insulted his entire existence. "I am a repository of knowledge! A beacon of wisdom! A—"

"A book," Ayami finished for him, smirking.

Senzai let out a dramatic groan. "This is humiliating."

Ayami tapped her fingers on the table. "Real question—you weren't born a book, right?"

"Of course not!" Senzai huffed. "I used to be human! Like I said!"

Hikaru leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Alright, so you were human. What happened? How'd you end up as a book?"

Senzai hesitated, his pages twitching. "That's… complicated."

Ayami raised an eyebrow. "Complicated how?"

The book made a noise that sounded suspiciously like someone clearing their throat. "Let's just say I was too knowledgeable for my own good. I studied things people—gods—didn't want me to know. And, well… they dealt with me the way they saw fit."

Lina frowned. "So they sealed you away just for knowing too much?"

"More or less," Senzai muttered. "I was a scholar of ancient magic, lost histories, divine secrets. I knew things that could change the balance of power. Naturally, that made me a threat."

Ayami tilted her head. "So… they turned you into a book?"

Senzai let out a long sigh. "Yeah. Not the worst fate, all things considered. They could have just destroyed me. Instead, they figured locking me away where no one could find me was safer. Guess they underestimated how annoying I can be."

Hikaru smirked. "I can see why they did it."

"Hey!"

Ayami drummed her fingers against the table. "And now that you're out?"

Senzai hesitated again. "I still want my freedom. Being carried around in a bag isn't exactly the life I envisioned."

Lina narrowed her eyes. "And by 'freedom,' you mean what, exactly? You want us to break your seal?"

The book was silent for a moment. Then, softer this time, he said, "Yes."

Ayami crossed her arms. "Unfortunate. None of us can do that. Let me introduce you to your very capable new owners. First, we have this little boy, Hikaru, who has the power to enter the Mirror World. He claims he can do anything in there, but who knows if he can actually unseal you."

"I don't think I can," Hikaru admitted. "My ability only works on things that have some kind of mind-to-mind connection."

"And then," Ayami continued, "we have this young girl, Lina, whose special ability is… drumroll, please… she has really sharp eyesight. Great sniper, though."

***

Meanwhile, in the grand halls of Takemikazuchi's domain, the air was thick with the scent of incense and the lingering tension of past battles. The god of martial arts sat on a raised platform, eyes closed, his body at rest but his senses sharp. His divine domain was a place of discipline—silent, orderly, a space where only the strongest could stand.

Then, the heavy doors creaked open.

Takemikazuchi's eyes flicked open, and he turned his head slightly, expecting one of his followers. Instead, he saw her.

A woman stepped inside, her every movement deliberate, as if the world itself bent to her presence. Golden jewelry adorned her wrists and ankles, catching the dim light like tiny stars. Her deep red gown flowed around her, both elegant and impossibly bold—fitting for one who needed no introduction.

"Ishtar."

Takemikazuchi's voice was even, but there was an unmistakable wariness beneath it. "To what do I owe this unexpected visit?"

The goddess of love and war smiled, though there was something sharp beneath it, something unreadable. "Must there always be a reason?" she mused, stepping closer, the sound of her heels clicking against the polished floor. "Can't an old acquaintance simply stop by?"

To Be Continue.