Chapter 14

Once again I find myself in my mindscape. A place where all my energies collide, where I can exist for thousands of years inside, yet outside only a few hours would have passed. Well, that's only if I use this place to think and plan. If it's to control my soul or energy, time does pass.

"Hm..." I ponder as I look around. This looks different than my usual mindscape. Something is wrong.

Usually, I float in the middle of a dark sea while clouds of different colors float around, the clouds are how my different energies manifest themselves inside my body. That's only the front though, if I were to plunge into the sea I could see my memory palace, mind readers are a thing. That's why my mindscape is usually a chaotic dark sea-sky-thing. Or whatever.

Now, all I see is a broken sea, literally. Cracks formed as if it was a picture in stained glass. The clouds are fused, in an amalgam of colors, instead of drifting in the sky, they're raining, dripping inside the cracks in the sea.

With a grunt, I will myself to float towards the cracks. I need to fix these first.

The cracks are larger than I thought, they are probably seven meters in diameter and are getting larger with each drop of the energy storm.

My mind palace was one of the few things I was proud of, very high walls, erected in a circular pattern, supported by massive stone pillars; by planting what was called a pensile paradise. Humongous vines, from where all sorts of trees sprouted, the prospect of a mountainous country in a single castle. A garden. The garden of Semiramis.

It was probably the most beautiful view I can remember in my old world. Not Olympus, not Asgard. My garden. The little sufferer of Media, couldn't truly enjoy the gardens. To this day I still pity her.

I keep moving towards the core of my mind with a sigh, a place where my soul connects to my mind. The walls, the floor, all had cracks, the dripping water slowly inundating the palace, it is already tipping towards the east.

As I approach the huge doors that lead to the throne room, I could hear the clashing of steel and grunts of pain. Raising an eyebrow I enter just to see something kinda annoying.

That's one of my memories, me, clashing against Nebuchadnezzar the great. The greatest king of the Neo-Babylonian empire. Heh, he got so angry when I mentioned how he couldn't hold a handle to Isutubar. Or Gilgamesh, as most know him.

Ignoring the ongoing battle I keep walking forward, directly towards the throne. Sitting on it, I immediately feel my full being. Or not fully, after all, it's completely different than what I used to feel.

There's no humanity left in me to tie together my energies. That's how I controlled myself before. Absolute control, absolute faith in my humanity. Cursed or not, I was human.

Now, I am not. What am I, then? I need to have something to tie it with to control my rampant energy. To control it. So, I must answer a few questions to myself first.

"Who are you?" Imposing. The voice was full of strength and poise. Immobile even during an earthquake. I remember that question. He asked it when I stumbled on his training. I was curious, my father always said to not go to the hills, bad people lived there, he said.

And thus I went. Ah, my memory is a bit spotty. All I remember is a hill with a tree, and a boy, besides the tree, swinging a sword.

I should remember him clearly, but I can't? Why can't I? Two weeks ago he was all I could think whenever I closed my eyes. The curse is gone, of course. I was forced to remember him every day. How is forgetting him better?

A ripple, a wave of my sadness echoed through my soul. Now the rain has become a storm.

"Well?" Opening my eyes, I find that he's still waiting for an answer. With a watery smile, I answer.

"Belatsunat, a hero." I chuckle. Because that's what I am, am I not? I am a hero. No need to be a human, demons, and angels can be heroes too, devas and monsters can become heroes, so... I can be a hero despite whatever I am now.

His smile was blinding, so blinding I involuntarily covered my eyes with my arm. When the blinding light was gone I removed my arm, only to find myself in my treehouse.

"What are you going to do next?" A velvety voice purred from my side.

I've lived so long, I used to think I had a perfect memory because I never forgot a single thing. Yet I can barely remember what the inside of my house looked like. I can't remember the face of my best friend. I can't remember. I want to remember, I don't want to forget.

I don't want their memories to be forgotten in obscurity.

As if my soul and energy heard me, my body suddenly filled to the brim of energy, rushing towards my brain. Memories, of thousands of years relived again and again. Until my brain was carved from memory.

"Nothing. I will just continue my travels to look for Ishmallah." I answer, looking at Aruru. My younger sister. Mischievous, and rather lusty. She's lucky she's so blessed in magic, otherwise, people would discriminate against her.

"Good. Don't forget your goals sister, dear. You're rather forgetful after all." She smirked. That same smirk I make. It's a family thing, after all.

"I won't. I will not forget a thing, I promise." I grinned back, reaffirming my nature.

Suddenly I find myself in a cemetery on a hill, our tradition of old was just to bury the naked body so it could nurture nature. We didn't touch the body more than that.

The heart was believed to be the seat of the intellect, the liver of affectivity, the stomach of cunning, the uterus of compassion, and the ears and the eyes of attention. Breathing and life were thought of in the same terms. The Akkadian word Napistu was used indifferently to mean "the throat," "to breathe," and "life" itself.

We believed in no afterlife, just that the gods made us of their own clay, transformed to skin and meat. And when we die, we would become once again one with the gods who made us. The cessation of the being, the unity of man and god. That's probably why Gilgamesh was so afraid of death. Bastard.

This hill, this cemetery... Here was when I met the Fateless One. Here I am, on my knees. Wailing to the world, it's been five hundred years since I was born, and everyone I know dies. The oldest died at 34. That was quite the old age in these times.

The lineage of my sister was lost in a few generations, she was a more talented mage than me, and yet, she died. Her lineage was strong and noble, but slowly became entitled fools, so I stopped supporting them, they have lost the spiritual touch and magic.

The man I considered my lover at that moment was cursed to remain single until he remembers me, then he would die again. And again, and again. And I was cursed with knowing that, but not being able to do anything except to remain loyal to his love. It was maddening. Gods are truly horrible beings.

"Gods are fickle, aren't they?" His whispered words felt like the wind itself.

I was kneeling, surrounded by tombs. Before I could answer, a hand stroke my hair.

"You have suffered a lot, child. Sadly I cannot release you from the curse. No god can. They have never bothered to learn how to undo their curses." He mutters under his breath.

"Then... What do I do?" I didn't remember my voice being that weak. But perhaps it was.

"Raise your head, become my champion. You have time if nothing else, to learn things. Maybe one day you'll be able to release the curses."

As the memory fades away, I remain in a void. the Fateless One voice surrounding me like an echo in the water.

"You're free of your curse, why are you still doing this?"

"I don't know. I still have to release him from his curse. But... I just want to correct all the injustices of the gods. I want to be able to punish them, they have run rampant since their beginning. I do not accept that. Yeah, I want to become a goddess of fair justice, I want to help heroes. I want to learn everything in the universe." I realize now, I am greedy.

"Very well, Belatsunat. That's your core being. Not a flawed human, but a greedy being that wants the best for others."

His words illuminate my very being itself. Like a switch flipping the lights in a room. Suddenly I was on the throne of my mind. The castle fixed, no cracks, no clouds. Just a beautiful bright sky. Good.

Closing my eyes, I appear once again in front of my energy vortex. The clouds are still fused, but at least it's no longer a chaotic mess. Sitting cross-legged inside of the clouds, I focus on separating the different energies, but I suddenly feel my soul about to tear apart.

"Shit. It seems my energies are truly fused." I gasped in pain. "Well... Might as well just learn to do everything with this cocktail of energy."

Well, there are good sides and bad sides to this, on the good side I now have a massive amount of energy, on the bad side, I have limited energy for every kind of trick I had.

Soul energy, magic, blood, resonance, psy energy, blood attributes, life-force, grace, arcane, chi, and my willpower itself. While I had a limited amount of energy, I could exhaust one type of energy to use another type of energy with different spells. Still, now I have to retrain myself.

Oh well, it could have been worse.

Closing my eyes and opening them again, I find myself looking at the worried face of Takae, I can understand why, though, the sky is dark now.

"Boop," I say while touching her nouse lightly. "Hey, what are you thinking?"

"Nat!" she sighed in relief "I was worried. I am fine, I was tossing a coin before, it's the first time in my life that I pick the winning side!" She exclaimed with a smile.

"Good, then let's go sleep at the monk's temple. I still have one last thing to give them, and we can go back to Kawakami." I say getting up.

"Ah, about that... Can we visit my brother? I want to meet him."

"Yeah sure, but I really doubt he's here. Your father did leave, according to the Kijo. Perhaps we can ask the monks, or maybe in the town hall." I scratch my chin while thinking, as Bikey appears at my side.

"Sure, let's go." She acknowledges sitting behind me.

Takae was quite aggressive last night, I didn't know I could get so tired after rolling on the sheets for so long. Hell, with my control overshot I couldn't even put a silencing charm... Hehehehe, oh, sweet naked Takae, you're gonna be so ashamed today.

"Hey, wake up," I say shaking her shoulder a little bit only to receive a growl. "O-ho? Is that grumbling I hear?" I quickly take her covers and slap her ass.

"Kya!" A shout and a sliver of lightning answer me, she's suddenly in front of me, fully clothed and with a red hue on her face. "Well? you wake me up and you're not even clothed yourself." She smirks.

"Sassy huh. Alright, gimme a moment."

"Nat... Why are they looking at us like that?" Takae whispers, we are walking towards the main hall of the temple to eat with the rest. Handholding, of course. Lewd.

"Ah. Who knows." I reply loudly while grinning. "Forget that, let's eat~"

The wizened old lama approached us as we got near one of the tables, his slightly strained smile. "Good morning, children. You caused quite the ruckus last night. Please remember that our monks here are celibate."

As we sit down, I hear Takae's "Bwuh!?" and almost laugh out loud.

"Ah, I am sorry old man, Takae was quite vigorous. I tried to muzzle her, but sadly she bit through." As I say that, I can see many monks squirm and blush to rise on their faces making me smirk.

And before the old man could complain about my attitude, I received a lightning punch on my side that sent me flying from the room through the opened doors.

Landing in a heap of bounces I grin as I pat the dust out of my clothes as I swag inside the building with a smirk.

"Ah! Nat! Sorry, I think I overreacted. But... That punch would normally only budge you a little, am I stronger or what's going on?" She speaks above the cacophony from the temple.

"Well, I may or may not have lost all the enchantments I did on myself and must apply them again. Not that it hurt me, it's all about poise. Or the will of a mountain. Something like that." I smirk. "Let's eat."

"So, old man, you know anything about the family of the mayor Tachibana?" I ask bluntly while we eat gyozas. This is breakfast? Amazing, three full courses and two side dishes.

"Tachibana... Ah!" It seems he realized it as he points towards Takae. "How did I not realize it before? Hmm. Yes. They're the only ones who managed to break the curse and leave. Well, not entirely true, but something along the lines." He stops to munch.

"Eh? They broke the curse? Can you explain it to me please, they're my family. I want to see my little brother before we go back to Kawakami." She pleads as she bows.

"None of that, you saved us. Well, when the Kijo targeted your family, he had to release the curse on him to tie a new curse to the land. Since he was the mayor, it was recognized by most people in the town that he was the 'face' of Kōchi. So the curse would affect the whole town once again." He drinks his tea as Takae absorbs the information.

"Something along the lines is what we thought," I mutter along.

The old man then continues. "With the curse gone, he realized something was wrong with the city. The young 'uns never leaving it, people never going outside on vacations... So he started trying to convince people to do just that. It's not like Kōchi was or is a bad town. It's that he felt completely weird that no one left. Ever. And he wanted the young people to experience more of the world." He looks at Takae with pity.

"And he was succeeding, the curse was getting weaker and weaker, but the Kijo was a cunning being, and tricked your father into accepting the new curse. However, the curse seemingly went to you, I don't know what they did, but the curse on the whole prefecture was reinforced and many times stronger than the original. And Itami Tachibana and his family suddenly left. But apparently, they forgot about you or abandoned you. I am sorry my child." He looks at her with sadness.

"Ah, I am okay. I got over it many years ago. I will not forgive them, they abandoned me and were rather mean about it. They insulted me and dropped me in the orphanage. It was horrible and it haunted me all my life." -sigh- "But I am not going to demand or anything from them. I am my own person, I have my own goals, my things, my money. I do not need them. But I want to meet my little brother." She looked straight into his eyes.

Aw, she's so cute! I am proud of her.

"Last I heard was that they left to Itomori, in Gifu." He strokes his beard. "He's probably working for the town hall, it's all he knows how to do."

"Well, it was good knowing you old man, thanks for the info," I say getting up, and taking a seed from my storage. "Here, plant this in your favorite garden, it will protect the temple, and you may use the leaves in tea, it will do you good." I wink.

"Ah, youngsters always in a hurry. Very well, it was nice to meet you, once again, thanks for helping us." As he was about to bow, two slender hands, hold him in place.

"Don't," Takae mutters as she hugs him. "Thank you, for telling me where my brother is."

With a swift easy, she was suddenly beside me, holding my hand and pulling me towards the exit.

"Haha, see ya old man!" I wave as I let Takae drag me around.

Now in the road, Takae is looking at me bemusedly with an eyebrow raised, igniting my sense of shame.

After all, with my energies overshot, Bikey, which is part of my soul, instead of a superbike or a shadow-nightmarish horse... What's in front of us is a rainbow donkey.

"Hahaha..." I laugh awkwardly while scratching my neck. "I can promise it's at least fast."

"Well... if you say so." She mutters unconvinced with an amused tone. "What's its name now? Donkey? Dunkey?"

Huffing I point at her. "Don't mock me! And its name is still Bikey. That's the name, even if Bikey is now a rainbow donkey."

"Hahaha, don't worry. Let's go."

"I am gonna try and meditate on our way through, I need to learn to control my energy once again, otherwise Momoyo would break me," I answer back.

"Ah, that is true. I completely forgot about your fight. Hmm... You told me you defeated her once, but I don't think it's going to be that easy. I told you before that she has the power to destroy the earth in a single attack, didn't I? You should use one of your dimension thingies when you fight her, otherwise, it's gonna be quite dangerous for Kawakami."

"Ah, I guess that's true. If she is indeed as strong as you guys say she is... Now, don't look at me like that. I fought her and found her to be disappointing in comparison to what you guys claim her to be." Rolling her eyes, Takae looks around as the donkey starts running.

"This is going to take days, isn't it? Nat, I am serious, the donkey is running but we haven't even crossed the gate." She crosses her arms.

"Ugh. Fine." Willing Bikey to disappear, I wave my hand as a large Hindu Vimāna appears. "Alright, you first, my lady." I wiggle my eyebrow as I hold the door of the chariot open.

"You have a flying chariot? And you use a bike?" She asks in wonder.

"Well, I have most of everything, really. And I like bikes, I believe they're the best object humanity has ever invented." I reply in defense of the greatest item mankind has ever made.

"Haha, fine, fine. Here, if you hold this, with a thought you will make this fly and follow the direction you want. If you think of making it disappear it will become invisible. Do what you want." I smile as I sit in a meditative position, only to feel Takae sitting beside me, resting against me. With a smile, I submerge myself in my energy sea.