The Hell Gate I

Confined to the VIP cabin of the airplane, Tamamo cheerfully crunched on a handful of miniature pretzels, her fox ears and nine tails conspicuously absent. From an outsider's perspective, she and Kaito could easily pass for brother and sister. Beside them, Durandal hovered quietly at Kaito's side, her ethereal form half-phased through the airplane wall.

"Maria and Epsilon couldn't come with us," Kaito remarked, stretching his legs. "So, it's just you and me, Tamamo."

Durandal's translucent form rippled as poke back in. 'I'm here too, Kaito,' her voice chimed in his mind, a private thought only he could hear.

"And Durandal too, of course," Kaito added, glancing at her.

Tamamo swallowed a pretzel. "Why exactly do I have to come along? My nap was going quite splendidly." A hint of a pout touched her lips.

"I can think of multiple answers to that question, Tamamo." Kaito replied dryly. "But, more importantly, you absolutely must behave while we're here. This is America, the most powerful nation on Earth. And they don't take kindly to foxes causing mayhem."

Tamamo's eyes narrowed playfully. "Oh, I'll get my revenge on this nation when I regain my full power. I was minding my own business in peace, you know, and they suddenly attacked me out of nowhere!" She folded her arms in a mock-huff.

"Oh really, 'in peace'?" Kaito's eyebrow arched. "What exactly were you planning to do after you fully resurrected, Tamamo? Just live a quiet life of meditation?"

Tamamo brightened, as a cheerful grin spread across her face. "Why, take over Japan and the surrounding countries, of course! Especially now that I'm the only truly powerful being left on this Side of the world."

Kaito sighed the, paused, taken aback. "Wait, 'the only other powerful beings in Japan'? And you alluded to 'another Side' of this world earlier... what are you talking about?"

Tamamo tiled her head. "Did you not know?"

'I can tell you if you want, Kaito, it's quite a long history, about the fundamental nature of existence itself,' Durandal offered in his mind, but Tamamo, oblivious to Durandal's presence, continued.

"Humans are truly ignorant, aren't they?" Tamamo said, shaking her head. "The Side of the world humans currently inhabit is referred to as the Dark Side of the World. Its spiritual energy has gradually diminished ever since the Age of Gods, to the point that for beings like us, it's basically uninhabitable for sustained periods."

She leaned forward. "Whether powerful or pitiful, supernatural beings of all kinds slowly migrated to the Other Side, leaving this world behind for ordinary humans to claim as their playground. That's why you rarely see true mythical creatures anymore. The yokai and ghosts active in Japan today are newly spawned from my own Miasma."

She let out a theatrical sigh. "In the Other Side, it would have taken me at least ten years to resurrect myself fully. But here? It took much, much longer. And as I am now, I'm capable of sustaining myself purely on malice and negative emotions. If it wasn't for your meddling, Kaito, I would have gotten away with it!"

Kaito smiled. "I'm glad I stopped you, then."

Tamamo simply hmphed, turning her head away.

Suddenly, an unusual sensation rippled through the cabin that only they could feel. Outside the window, they noticed an immediate, dramatic change in the sky's color. The vibrant blue gave way to a bruised, sickly purple, streaked with unsettling greens and oranges. They were definitely entering Ohio airspace.

Below the clouds, a bizzard sight became visible. A colossal, building-sized rectangular rift rent the earth, pulsing with an eerie dark light. Occasionally, jagged spikes of pure energy protruded from its edges, only to retreat moments later, as if the very fabric of reality was tearing and mending itself over and over again.

'It's a Hell Gate...' Durandal's voice echoed in his thoughts.

Kaito, unable to resist, uttered the question aloud, "What's a Hell Gate?"

Tamamo, despite her apparent inability to hear Durandal, seemed to pick up on Kaito's shift in focus. "It's when the boundary of the netherworld and this world happens to intersect," she answered.

"A similar event occurred during my time in Japan, it was called Rashomon or something, and a bunch of lesser demons and undead flooded out. They were mere fodder, easily dealt with." Her gaze drifted to the pulsing rift below. "However, this Hell Gate seems to distort reality rather than simply spit out low-level creatures. It must be connected to a different netherworld than the one in Japan."

"Is there multiple netherworlds? Or Hells?" Kaito asked, trying to absorb the dizzying amount of information.

"Of course," Tamamo replied, as if stating the obvious. "There are multiple rulers, all of whom have carved up a part of the infinite expanse of the netherworlds and ruled over it as their own domain. Some are pits of fire, others endless ice, others still, realms of pure madness. All unique but serve similar purpose of containing souls."

'It's strange that the Church hasn't resolved this issue yet.' Durandal muttered.

Kaito considered her words. "How powerful is the Vatican, given the Order's capabilities? Could they truly handle something like this?"

'They ruled over Europe with near absolute power during my time, shaping kingdoms and crushing heresy with divine might,' Durandal replied. 'Even now, I can't imagine them declining, if at all.' A new thought struck her. 'Kaito, let's visit the Catholic Church after we're done with things here. I want to know how they are doing, how they've fared over the centuries.'

Kaito nodded. "Alright, Durandal. We can do that."

Tamamo, watching Kaito's subtle nods and reactions, narrowed her eyes. "What are you and Durandal talking about, human? You're being awfully secretive."

"Just discussing our next travel plans," Kaito said innocently. "We're visiting the Vatican after this, to see how things are there."

"The Vatican, you say?" Tamamo's eyes gleamed with renewed interest. "I see. I am also quite intrigued by the all-powerful religious sect of the West. Perhaps they have some secrets worth... acquiring." She paused, then a curious look crossed her face. "Say, human, why doesn't Durandal inhabit one of those puppets your Association has? Surely it would be more convenient for communication."

"We tried that, but Durandal isn't a spirit or ghost, per se," Kaito explained. "She's more like a mental projection that's linked to me."

"I see," Tamamo mused, a rare note of genuine contemplation in her voice. "It still intrigues me to know that there is a being I couldn't sense, even with my current diminished state."

The plane began its descent, the cabin crew making their final announcements. "We're about to arrive, Tamamo," Kaito said, his voice firm. "Remember what I said. Don't cause any trouble."

"Hmph," Tamamo huffed, but a faint smile played on her lips. "You don't have to tell me twice, human."

As they stepped into the airport terminal, the illusion of normalcy shattered instantly. Horrific, mutated monsters of all kinds roamed about – a man with a grotesque, bulbous head arguing with a luggage carousel, a woman with tentacles for hair chatting idly on a bench, a figure composed entirely of shifting shadows waiting patiently in a Starbucks line. And ordinary humans interacted with them, none the wiser, acting as if there was nothing out of the ordinary about the monstrous forms. A security guard with an extra, twitching arm casually waved someone through a metal detector.

Kaito instinctively began to summon Durandal, but Tamamo suddenly held his hand, stopping him.

"Don't," Tamamo said as her eyes sweeping over the surreal scene. "They're all human."

Kaito reacted in surprise, his hand freezing. "What?"

"Look at their behavior," Tamamo urged, her voice low.

Kaito watched, his heightened senses taking in the details. The tentacled woman complained about flight delays. The bulbous-headed man apologized for bumping into someone. Their interactions were oddly, disconcertingly human-like, despite their monstrous forms and words. It was as if their minds, their personalities, were perfectly normal, trapped in grotesque bodies.

'It seems only their physical form has been warped, along with the perception of it,' Durandal confirmed his guess.

Tamamo's eyes gleamed, a predatory excitement returning to them. "This is getting really interesting, don't you think so too, Kaito?"

Kaito calmed himself, taking a deep breath. He looked on, absorbing the bizarre reality of Ohio. Not responding to Tamamo's chilling comment, his mind already racing with the implications of this profoundly unsettling phenomenon.