Curse of the Sarcophagus

"Now that you can put your worries aside, there are two matters to discuss. I want to ask you something as even though I'm a goddess, each pantheon has its own ways around faith. How could Amaterasu discover that the leylines have strayed?"

"Well, technically speaking she has no way to know... the Leylines emit faith that I redirect into Takamagahara unconsciously, I'm just a medium of worship... now that I have fallen hopelessly for Ray-sama, one bit of all that energy must be constantly rushing into him. With each day that goes by... that amount is going to increase more and more. In Takamahagara they won't realise right away but once the whole realm begins to destabilize, suspicions will not take long before they fall on me".

Anubis frowned, 'So that faith is somehow influencing the space laws that keep that realm together? it is a very efficient way to go about it'.

"How long would this take?"

"About a year...?"

'A year...? That's not enough time for Ray to flourish'.

"I can gain us some time until Ray is an adult and has ascended into Godhood" Anubis declared confidently.

"Gain time? how...? If the realm begins to crumble what can we do?"

"I have control of the spatial laws, I can feel Takamahagara in the skies at the centre of Kyoto as clear as the sun in the skies. I can keep that realm together without alerting them for as long as necessary, in fact... that will be better for us in case we ever need to strike a deadly offensive on the Takamagahara. if I unknowingly gain control over that realm's spatial laws, then I can make it collapse in an instant when convenient~"

!!!

'This Goddess is dangerous!' 

Perhaps that was something Yasaka already knew, but she never felt so assured of that threat as she did now. All it took for Anubis was a small bit of information and she already had a perfect plan!

'This is ridiculous... obviously, it would only work because I, the one holding the leylines, am together with them. But if she were to collapse the whole dimension... only a handful of gods would survive, and the whole Shinto Faction would be over!'

"Relax... that's just a small measure. When you get involved in countless fights among deities, your mind becomes like this".

"Who exactly are you? How do you even know spatial laws? That's a very difficult concept to grasp even for gods".

Haughtiness seeped out of her dark skin, looking at Ray and feeling irritated that he wasn't awake to hear her boast her powers. 

"I'm a very powerful goddess, Yasaka... and this isn't even my main body, this is just an avatar".

"Avatar...? could it be-"

It didn't take long for Yasaka to put two and two together. About Anubis, about Reina... and about a woman who was missing from the whole equation ever since she was mentioned.

"The main body... that is Ray's favourite, the one he loves is her, not me"

'Anubis' stuttered with clear dejection.

"..."

It crushed Yasaka's guesses, she thought when Ray said that, he said so thinking about Anubis, a part of her was so curious to know what their story was... but she didn't want to pry more than necessary, she trusted that when Ray was ready, he would share everything with her. 

"It is you who is talking nonsense now, Anubis".

"...?"

"Didn't you hear him just now, he said he loves the two of us... I no longer care about being the favourite, do you?~"

"Of course I still care! But what can I do? I'm not her and I won't ever be her!".

Anubis' feelings let loose and as a small tear left her golden eye she realised that Ray was right there, he could be awake hearing everything. She realised she messed up and cleaned her eyes just as quickly. 

"Where is she?"

"Far away... in a place we can't yet reach"

"Why do you tell me? it feels like a sensitive topic"

"We're in this together... it is only fair that you know who you are losing against, no, no who we're losing against".

"For such a powerful goddess, you really lack self-confidence, Anubis~"

"You-"

Yasaka leaned a gave Anubis' right cheek a long lick.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm acting like what I am, a pet~"

"... what a shameless fox".

Yasaka stood up from the bath, feeling more than ready and rejuvenated, her tails twisted like fans and she splashed water all over.

"Hey!"

In about a second, she was all dry and clean with hair more golden than ever, irradiating a subtle sun aura emanating from her newest mutation. If one looked at her eyes there was an indomitable fire equivalent to ten suns of intensity.

"I don't know about you, Anubis. But I don't plan to lose against a woman that's not even here~"

!!!

"If the favourite one had been you, I would have conceded... but the queen of his heart is not even here? this is too easy~ I'm sure he wants to meet her, he must be craving her so desperately, likewise, she must miss him too, right?".

"You have no idea-"

"Well, that's a pity... because as his pet it is my job to keep him happy... I'll keep his mind away from her as much as I can, will you help me?~"

"..."

Anubis licked her lips, caressing the boy's cheeks and recalling the memories of her previous life. Memories in which she behaved in ways that she couldn't do now.

"I'm not a romantic person in the slightest... but I'll try".

Yasaka's eyes shone as she grinned, 'So Reina-san is the heart and Anubis is the brain? good to know~'

The kitsune sat down on the nearest bench to take a brush and she started brushing her fur alluringly.

"Leaving that aside, Anubis... about our conversation from earlier".

"Hmn?"

"Takamagahara's stability is not the only thing that relies on the faith of the Leylines, every century there is a great event in Takamahagara, the opening of the Izanagi-no-Mizumi (lake)".

"What is that?"

"It is a sacred well in Takamahagara that takes the concentrated faith of the Leylines, a competition among demigods is held and the winner can ascend to godhood using the sacred water of the lake. The problem is... that the competition should be held in less than a decade... and now that my focus has swayed, the purity of the lake will decrease exponentially before the event takes place... there is nothing you and I can do about it, we will be discovered".

Contrary to what Yasaka expected, Anubis waved her hands in dismissal, "Less than a decade...? It doesn't matter... by then Ray will be strong enough".

"Do you think so? I'm worried because sometimes the competition is held earlier, it could be a decade or just two years, depending on the needs of the pantheon".

"Ray will achieve godhood before he becomes an adult, mark my words. It is also thanks to you and your sacrifice, Yasaka".

'Thanks to her sacrifice we have enough Chaos Points to open many transdimensional gates at the same time, he could take many customers at once and gain plenty more of Chaos Points to ascend quickly. I think this test was mostly successful but I must talk to Ray later about it'.

"I'm glad that I was of use to Ray-sama~!"

The kitsune barked in joy, one more reason for her to convince herself that giving sacrifices was the right choice. 

"The last thing is regarding another technique that you obtained Yasaka, this is extremely important".

"Another technique? According to the notifications, it would be 'Curse of the Sarcophagus' that one, right?"

"Yes... to be honest, I never thought this was even a possibility, giving you that godly trait is even more of an advantage to you than a mutation to your race".

"What is it about?"

"It is a curse... I don't know if you can bear with it-" Anubis felt apprehended to tell her.

"Hurry up and tell me, you're starting to worry me!" Yasaka too began to fear for the worst.

"It is simple... due to that curse you have now become an unkillable being, Yasaka".

"Eh?" The kitsune's ears jumped in surprise, she thought she didn't hear well.

"Curse of the Sarcophagus is an ability that Ray inherited from me. Our breed of multiversal gods, so long as we're exposed to the energy of the stars or have it stored inside our bodies; we simply can't die... if your body is destroyed, it will be regenerated. Even if your heart is crushed, it will come back palpitating... no matter what happens to your body, you can't die anymore".

"That's wonderful! Why didn't you tell me that sooner!?"

"..."

Anubis saw how Yasaka was genuinely happy to the point she couldn't believe it. 

'Fool... you will only be happy for the first ten thousand years. After that, you will come to know why it is called a curse... not a blessing'.