What Greater Purpose?

WITH that thought in his mind, Seri didn't waste any time and went to where his father and mother reside.

After leaving a note for Sora that he might be late, he left their home and set his way to Takachiho Shrine on the southern part of the prefecture.

It wasn't a long drive but he knows that his parents might make him stay for a while, after all, it has been hundreds of years since he last saw them.

He wanted to see them, too, but it wasn't the reason why he was coming back. He wanted to know if they knew something about what the Goddess is planning.

He got out of the house and rode his car. He could fly his way to Takachiho but he chose to rose his car, like a normal mortal. Living his life as a mortal, a simple life, made him realize that it was less boring than being an immortal.

And he understood why some of the heavenly beings chose to abandon their life as immortals.

The trip to Takachiho was peaceful. The roads and places changed as the world started to get modern. But he was thankful as people in this land still know how to take care of the environment. The greens were still fresh. The birds were still singing and so as the crickets. It was like taking him back to his childhood.

"But I cannot say that it was that peaceful." He chuckled as he drove his way. Every day was a war whenever his two brothers are together.

Not more than thirty minutes, he was already at the Shrine and his smile widen as he looked at the place.

The tall trees of Cedar and Cypress were all over the place. It was where they would hide and play. Now, the shrine enshrines different deities. From good harvest, marriage prospects, transport, warding off bad luck, and attracts the faithful.

He stopped at the entrance of their former home. Beside that were two cedar trees or what they call now Couple Cedar. It looked like a couple welcoming their visitor to their home.

The two trees grew from the same root and Seri can still remember how his parents held each other's hand and manifested themselves to the seeds that they have planted. It took years before the tree grew to what it was now. Now it stood at almost a thousand years.

{It has been that long, huh.}

Seri slowly walked to it and watched in marvel the height of it before he bowed down and gave his greetings.

"I'm home, Father. Mother."

Seri just stood there waiting for their spirit to appear but winds blew but there were none. He just sighed and walked inside the temple.

He doubts that his parents were just going to stay on that tree. When even they were still in their human form, they were inseparable and won't even stay in one place.

He roamed around the house before going around the grounds. It was then he finally saw his parents. Sitting at the well where humans drink some water.

"Father. Mother." He whispered in the air. It wasn't long when he was heard. Both looked up top where he was and only his mother was visibly excited to see him.

"Welcome. Oh, it has been so long, my son." His mother's chirpy voice was equal to how she looks.

Humans today might see her as a cosplayer. Pink long hair. A lighter shade of pink in her eyes. Snowy white skin. A small and slender figure. Her clothes were always a white and pink flowy kimono. His mother resembles the beauty of the cherry blossoms. As she was Princess Konohanasakuya—the tree blossoming blooming princess and considered as an avatar of life.

Seri closed his eyes as he readied himself to his mother. A wind burst slammed into him as his mother embraced him. People around cannot see what was happening but Seri could.

He slightly nodded to his father when he opened his eyes and he was standing in front of him.

"Your mother missed you. She had been waiting." His father greeted regally.

As the grandson of Amaterasu, Ninigi, or Nigi to him, his father was the opposite of his mother. With his dark long hair that brushes the ground, to his black expressionless eyes, he looked like darkness befall from the land.

He cannot believe that he was the grandson of the Sund Goddess as he emits a dark, cold, aura. Or maybe Seri was just afraid of his father as he was strict when he was just a child. After all, his father was called the Child of the sun with many talents or the bejeweled mallet.

"I'm sorry, father. It took so many years before I came back."

"No matter, no matter," Sakura replied as she held him at arm's length. "As long as you are back. Oh, my son is so big now."

"Mother, I'm already this big when we last saw each other."

"But your hair isn't like this." She gestured to his hair as if looking for something. "I love your long hair but I love how you look now. Very handsome."

His father gruffed as he carefully extracted Sakura from his son. "It would have thanks to my ancestral background."

"And mine, too. Don't just hoard, okay?" Snubbed Sakura to her husband.

"I'm really glad I'm back. But I never thought that it would be a time like this," Seri chuckled. "But mother, father, I want to ask you something."

It was then his parents looked at him. The seriousness in his voice made their smile retract,

"Do you know if something is going on in Takamagahara? Especially to the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu?"

Sakura looked at her husband and looked back at Seri. Both are quiet as they looked at each other.

Seri was silently praying that his parents knew something. Hoping that they knew how his son can escape from the Sun Goddess' eyes.

****END OF CHAPTER****

I love these two love birds~

And the cypress tree is real...

you can search the Takachiho Shrine to see~~