37

Chapter 37: Palace of the DeadNotes:

Bit of a transitional chapter but it has a bit of character developing dialogue outside the clone shenanigans. This serves as a cool down for the fairly intense last chapter while setting a long term goal for Ibaraki's time here. Also, Izanami again.

Chapter Text

I follow Susanoo back out the way we came and he starts leading me through the rest of the palace. He gestures lazily down a corridor we pass, "Down that hall is the dining hall and the kitchens. You can forget they exist if you don't plan on spending eternity here."

"I'm going to be here for a month. I have to eat something in that period. Unless of course, you want me to go around swinging noodle arms at Dragonhide." I wiggle my arms at him and he turns his nose up at me.

"You aren't here to play around, try to focus." He frows at me with a disappointed look. "How can you call yourself a Sage if you can't even sate your hunger with Ki."

Can he go a sentence without some form of condescension? "Figure it out or starve, I'm fine with either."

I scoff at him and cross my arms. "Whatever, I'll learn it myself. I always do."

It's possible it is as simple as constantly healing myself with Ki, maybe just focused more on maintenance. Food is used by the body to provide energy and repair its constituent parts. If I look at it that way then I can substitute Ki for food without any complex leaps in logic. I'll have to play around with it to figure out exactly how much Ki I need to expend but the basic idea is sound.

I wonder if I could do the same with my need for sleep? I can already stay awake for days at a time due to pure supernatural constitution but not having to sleep at all would give me more training time.

I do like sleeping though...

He gestures down another hallway. "That section are the residences for the palace staff; cleaners, cooks, maids, and other servants. I tried to have your room put there with the rabble but mother wouldn't allow it."

I smile fondly at that. Her son might be a royal dick but she seems nice. A little off, though I'd be a hypocrite to complain about that. Susanoo narrows his eyes and huffs.

"Stop that." My amusement flashes across my expression as I sense a weak point.

"Oh? I was just thinking about your sweetheart of a mother. Does that bother you?" I grin, showing him my teeth as I lean into his personal space.

Lightning crackles in his eyes as he seems to tower over me suddenly. "I may be content to pretend when we are in her presence, but don't mistake yourself as anything other than replaceable."

My power leaks out in response and black flames dance along my arms. "Really? See, I think there's a problem with that statement. You wouldn't kill your mother's third favourite living person, would you? I think she'd be sad."

My grin widens as his power dims minutely. "Or worse, disappointed."

Deciding to push it I attempt to pat him on the cheek. His sword flashes and my arm falls to the ground but I grin and laugh it off. "Wouldn't that be the worst, Susanoo?"

"If we were anywhere else-" I wave my hand and walk ahead.

"Yes, yes. You'd kill me and nobody would ever find the body. If not that then whatever similar threat you would use to spare your pride." I spin around, walking backwards now. His face is set in impotent rage as I give him a smug grin.

"How does it feel to be a hypocrite? I seem to remember you flirting with my mother. Should I do the same?" My grin fades when he unleashes more of his power. Compared to Crom it's nothing but his level is still far above mine right now.

"I would caution you against such an action, lest you find your soul so thoroughly rent that your consciousness dissipates in totality. I cut Orochi's soul in half by accident; I wonder how many I can tear yours into if I'm trying?" I shiver as his low voice echoes through the corridor. This is the God that slew Yamata no Orochi.

I can't help but smile, my respect for Susanoo ticking up slightly. Very slightly. Minutely really, "Now you understand why I was so upset. I threatened eternal torment to someone earlier this year. Maybe we can become best buddies for real one day!"

I barely manage to keep a straight face, quickly succumbing to laughter. "Nah, who am I kidding."

Susanoo sighs looking at me with distaste written on his face. He gestures over my shoulder and I realize we've arrived. Turning, I see a massive courtyard that is filled with individual tower-like buildings. Similar to pagoda's now that I think of it. "These are the residences constructed for honoured guests. Yours is up ahead."

I relish the look of disgust on his face as he says honoured guests and references me in quick succession. "Mother insisted that my minion-"

"Friend~" I mock teasingly.

"-Minion stay in the finest empty residence." He gestures to the one we've been approaching. It's a three-story octagonal tower with ornate death motifs carved on the columns, dark purple walls, and grey roof tiles.

Walking closer to the building, I look through the doorway and see the interior of the first floor. There is a sitting area in the centre and circling the walls on all sides are bookshelves, well, more like scroll shelves.

I turn in mute horror. Surely this isn't so. Susanoo, however, crushes my dreams mercilessly. "Your training is to spend the next month searching for something useful in those scrolls. Them or the ones from other residences if you think you'd have a better shot elsewhere."

He continues, amused by my expression. "Knowing the muscle-bound meathead you are though, I assume you will give up on literary pursuits and throw yourself mindlessly at the demons and undead for the next month."

"You can't seriously expect me to pick through dusty scrolls all month! At least, give me idea of what to start with." I stare in shock as he walks away laughing at my plight.

"I'll pick you up in a month! See you then, minion!" Even after he disappears his laughter rings out through the courtyard.

Bastard.

I glance back at the scrolls in distaste. I'm not illiterate of anything but I've made it pretty far in this life without being studious. Is this the eponymous 'glass ceiling' that only educated people can surpass? To think it extends to godhood as well as managerial positions: how fearsome.

No, don't think like that Ibaraki! In your past life, you were able to burn Latin conjugations into your mind for weeks straight without faltering. Learning from the handwritten chronicles of legendary souls has to be more interesting than that, right?

I run my hand across a bank of scrolls and on a whim pull one out. I unfold it slowly, carefully preserving what is surely a treasure of immense value.

'The Deeds and Travels of Raikou's Retainers Volume I - An Autobiography by Watanabe no Tsuna'

I feel my eye begin to twitch as I curse out Susanoo in my head. My fingers twitch as I restrain myself from incinerating this scroll and the ones on the wall. Of all the residences to drop me off at he chose the one that belonged to Tsuna? There's no way that wasn't an intentional insult.

The rumble of Byakko's voice cuts through my thoughts as he appears in the residence. "You are focusing too much on the insult in the action and not the lesson. You have a rare opportunity to learn from the hero who brought your ancestor low. You've surpassed your ancestor but that does not mean you possess none of his failings or weaknesses."

"I hate it when you say sensible things. Why can't you just support me on this? 'I agree, Ibaraki, let us lose ourselves in the baser instinct to destroy that which offends us.'" Byakko isn't impressed by my mimicry of his voice.

"I am here to provide you with the wisdom you lack. You handle the 'baser instinct' as you put it." He yawns when I turn my glare at him, smirking in amusement.

"Fine, I'll read the damn scrolls. I'm not only reading from Tsuna though." Byakko nods in approval as I snap off my horns, the two forming into identical clones.

"We need to up the number of clones we can produce." Clone One says, while Clone Two nods in agreement.

"That and rig up a memory transfer. It's all well and good to force us temporary existences to do menial labour but if you want actual utility from us we need to be you in every sense that matters." Clone Two expands on the improvements needed.

I roll my eyes at them, "You do realize that if you've thought of that, so have I?"

Clone One sticks her tongue out at me while Clone Two flips her middle fingers at me. "Yes, yes, you're so smart. Answer this though, if we act as though you know everything we do, when would we get to speak?"

I facepalm not having the patience to deal with my own snark, "Can you guys not be annoyingly self-aware? Just go find any empty residences that had interesting figures live in them, please?"

I get a mock salute and a flamboyant bow in response, "Roger that!" "By your leave, my progenitor"

I glance at Byakko who is staring at me with smug vindication. "You can tell me how annoying I am later, Byakko. Hopefully, by then, I'll feel up to refuting it."

With that, I settle in to read the life story of my ancestor's fated foe. "Chapter one: Life in the Saga Genji branch…"

I know that I'm in Yomi but this is hell. The first three volumes only covered Tsuna's childhood! I don't need to know what games he played when he was a kid or what his favourite food was. Go and smoked eel respectively, topics he freely spoke of for far too long. Just get to the part where you detail all the secrets behind your skills, you pedantic old man!

I've started skimming through the scrolls by this point because there is no way I'm spending the entire time learning random facts about a folk hero's life. Techniques you senile bastard, techniques!

My clones haven't returned so I assume they are still going through other residences. I honestly don't know how long we've been at this considering there's no sun to track the progression of the day. I've been using my hunger as a measuring stick for the passage of time and I think I've been sitting here in this pile of scrolls for about… one meal? So, three hours?

I yawn and look up from my scroll and see someone standing in the doorway. The man looks nervous and vaguely familiar but I can't tell where I recognize him from. My eyes narrow and the sense of recognition pulses dimly in the back of my head as I dissect his appearance.

His body is slightly transparent which tells me he's one of the deceased souls that live in the palace. He's dressed like a servant so he isn't a hero of legend that I'm simply forgetting at the moment. He also isn't someone I've killed recently either.

When he starts fidgeting and clears his throat I realize I've been staring at him for a while now. "Sorry about that. Is there something you need?"

He wrings his hands nervously as he takes a deep breath. Trying to find his courage maybe? As he walks closer that sense of recognition pounds in the back of my head but I just can't make the connection. "I guess I wanted to speak to you? Um, this is a lot harder than I thought it would be."

"If I killed you or something I'm… well, not sorry but sorry we crossed paths when we did?" I smile awkwardly as my halfhearted apology ends up not being much of an apology at all.

"No, it isn't that!" He waves his hands in denial, "Er, you did kill me but it's fine. Well, not fine..."

He sighs and shakes his head. "This is all coming out wrong."

"Take your time, dude." I don't go back to reading since that would be rude and I welcome the distraction at this point.

"I wanted to meet you to see if my death was worth something." He swallows heavily and clenches his fists.

"When I was captured and taken to your village, I knew I was going to die there. I even thought it would be prolonged and cruel." Yeah, the Elder would have given him that impression on purpose. If only just to watch this man's fear.

"What I never could have expected was that children, barely able to move on their own, would be thrown at me in some twisted ritualistic bloodsport." Suddenly, I know exactly who this is. I didn't recognize him at first with how healthy he looks. Ironic that he looks better dead and free than in chains in life.

This man was my first kill.

"Even now I don't know why I fought back so hard. You were children and I was struggling to put my survival over yours. All I could think is that these monsters were trying to kill me but you weren't a monster yet, right?" There are tears gathering in his eyes as he looks pleadingly at me.

 I shake my head at the naivete of his thoughts. "If you are looking for condemnation from me, you're looking in the wrong place. You had just as much right to survive as anyone in that pit, even if you would have been killed immediately after."

"Everyone in that pit and everyone watching was a monster. You aren't wrong to have thought that." I might have considered myself human at that point but I willingly threw that away.

"What of it though? You should give value to your own existence; you certainly shouldn't seek it from me. I'm a mess." I frown at the sudden introspective turn of this conversation.

First-murder-guy has begun crying in earnest now something that causes me to sigh. "It's the nature of living beings to want to live. Only you can justify whether the actions you took to ensure your life were too far."

"I killed you to live, do you see regret from me?" He looks into my eyes and seems shocked at what he finds there.

"How can you just accept that? Shouldn't you have realized that was wrong by now?" I tilt my head back and stare at the ceiling wondering why he thinks that.

"What, killing humans?" I scoff as he nods dumbly, "Do you even realize how arrogant that is?"

His face contorts as he scrunches up his nose. "Humans are the most populous race, not the most important. The truth is, every sapient creature is equally insignificant."

"Humans are given a special place in the hierarchy of life because they so easily give worship and they are for the most part weak." From the look on his face, he doesn't like what I'm telling him.

"Humans give special places to other creatures too. Dogs, cats, even cows, they all have different places in the society you construct and they stay in that position for the most part." Rather than dislike my words, now he looks genuinely horrified.

"Are you comparing humanity to pets or livestock?" He asks incredulity lacing his tone.

"That isn't what I personally think but, 'if it quacks like a duck...'" I shrug lazily. I've both eaten and toyed around with humans so if anything the metaphor works a bit too well.

"I mean the worst part about your ideology is you aren't self aware enough to realize that humans kill each other more than any other race kills them." I don't even know if I've hit top tier serial killer level of body counts if we're talking just humans killed.

"You're just as much of a monster as the man who captured me…" He stares at me blankly while I frown.

I glare at him as he presents this completely inaccurate opinion. "That isn't true at all. Depending on how you look at it I'm either more of a monster or less."

"More because for the most part, he was a petty bully while I don't play with my food. Less because I at least have some moral code to moderate my actions; he just enjoyed the suffering of others." I nod to myself even as I hear Byakko grumble in the background.

First-murder-guy leaves in a hurry, throwing me one last glare before he leaves. Once he's gone I lay back in my pile of scrolls and let out a sigh. I feel Byakko curl up against my side and I run my fingers through his fur.

"You don't have to be such a martyr all the time, kid," I growl at him and bury my face in his fur.

"I'm not going to lie just so both of us feel better. I spent a lot of time coming to terms with that in the last few months, I'm not going to regress because an old trauma shows up." I cuddle into him and feel him lean heavily into my fire affinity, becoming an excellent space heater.

"It's a good thing you aren't eating here or else your food would definitely be spit in after that." A laugh at the surprising joke, squeezing him tighter.

"Am I intruding?" I poke my head up out of my feline pillow and look at my second visitor in such a short amount of time.

"Of course not, Izanami. It's good to see you!" I grin as she smiles shyly. So adorable!

She's still wearing the same clothes but she's carrying a tray piled full with steaming food. "I didn't see you in the dining hall so I brought you some dinner."

She smiles beautifully as she says this and the smell from the food finally hits me. My stomach growls loudly when the wonderful scent of what is clearly a professionally prepared meal hits my nose. Be strong, Ibaraki.

I smile wryly at Izanami, "I'm still alive. I don't think it would be a good idea for me to eat that."

Izanami blinks before gasping softly. "I hadn't even thought of that! I apologize if I've offended you."

The tray of food disappears in a pulse of black energy, a faint mist hanging where it did an instant prior. "It's fine, Izanami. I appreciate the thought behind it."

I find myself smiling to reassure her because she's too open with her reactions for that to have been a lie. Either that or she is a supremely skilled actor; something I very much doubt given her isolation here.

She bites her lip and glances back at the doorway. She opens her mouth to presumably excuse herself but I beat her to it. "Would you like to stay and chat for a while?"

Her eyes widen and she looks like she's going to refuse, "If you stay I will allow you to feel my fur."

"...Alright." I send Byakko a mental 'thank you' for his assist. I take back anything bad I ever said about you Byakko. Izanami gingerly sits down near Byakko and me before slowly reaching over and hovering her hand above his head.

Byakko sighs and butts his head against her palm which causes her to squee in happiness. I manage not to audibly react to the concentrated cuteness out of sheer willpower. Izanami beams as she pets behind Byakko's ears. "I haven't seen a tiger in millennia! He's so handsome."

Byakko preens at the praise but Izanami isn't done, "His fur is so luxurious too. It's the second nicest fur coat I've seen on a tiger."

He freezes when he hears this and makes an offended chuffing vocalization. "Baihu has the most beautiful white coat but yours is a really close second. Is he still roaming the world?"

I chuckle as Byakko slumps bonelessly as he's destroyed by Izanami's casual words. "No, The White Tiger acts as a guardian spirit of the Principle Clans now."

"Oh wow. He must have really mellowed out then. He was all about getting into fights and conquering his foes when I was alive..." Izanami trails off as she frowns.

I flounder as I try to save her mood, "Wouldn't Susanoo or Crom Cruach have told you about things like that? Or even some of the deceased?"

She twirls he hair in her fingers as she smiles wistfully; the black butterflies in her hair flap their wings in annoyance or crawl to reposition themselves. "My son complains about his sister and Crom complains about the church most of the time. The deceased are either too scared of me or too respectful to speak to me."

I place my hand on her shoulder and she flinches at the touch. "I'll answer whatever questions you ask, okay? You don't need to hesitate."

She inches a little closer as her lips curl upwards slightly, "Well… Can you tell me how the people my ex-husband created are doing? I may have given them the curse of death but I don't hate them. Have they managed to travel to distant lands yet?"

Oh boy, this is going to take a while.

I've been chatting with Izanami for a while now. Thankfully she didn't ask for too much detail with regards to Japan's history or the countries present status in the world. I may live there technically but most of my time is spent interacting with supernatural factions.

Ah crap, I just realized that if I'm to expand The Golden Dragons across the nation I'm going to have to deal with human politics as well.

I notice Izanami tilt her head, "Are you alright, Ibaraki-san, you grimaced just now?"

"I was thinking about something unrelated." I try to reassure Izanami but somehow she thinks I'm no longer interested in talking to her.

"I should probably be going. You're humouring me when you should be training." She says it with such surety that I doubt if I try to refute it she'll believe me. A compromise then.

"I should but that doesn't mean you have to leave. Would you like to watch?" She smiles and claps at the idea, apparently not having thought of that.

"That sounds grand! When I had spare time I used to enjoy watching the warriors who lived here train." Izanami smiles softly in reminiscence.

"Before they were stolen away." She adds, muttering angrily.

"I don't know if I'll be as impressive as the legendary warriors who resided here before but hopefully I can entertain you." I grin as I stand up and offer Izanami a hand to help her up. She takes the offered hand with an embarrassed smile and I help her to her feet.

"I'm sure you're wonderful Ibaraki-san." I grin even as Byakko fake gags.

Izanami not realizing Byakko's just being an asshole clicks her tongue, "That's why you shouldn't lick your fur. It's too beautiful for such a crude method. I'll have servants come to take care of your coat for you."

Byakko groans in embarrassment and I laugh heartily while Izanami looks between us in confusion. "Please have them do that."

Izanami nods slowly as though to say, 'I suggested it, of course, I'll have the servants do that.'

As we leave the pagoda, I notice one of my clones wave at me in the distance before entering a different residence. More than likely she planned on doing something far ruder, only waving when she noticed Izanami.

"Is there a training ground nearby?" Izanami nods excitedly and grabs my hand to start leading me to our destination. A black mist forms in front of her and a hole opens up in reality. Before I can even protest she hauls me through and we land in the training ground.

"This is where the residents usually practised. I remember watching Musashi duel Kojiro here day and night." Her eyes sparkle as she sighs happily.

"That must have been exciting. Two unparalleled masters of the sword having a no hold barred battle." Izanami grins and whispers to me.

"Kojiro rarely got Musashi to use his sword. Musashi made it a point of pride to always fight Kojiro with something mundane to make him upset. Even in death, Kojiro didn't realize that he was the second greatest swordsman here and would have beaten anyone else." I snort at that image. He probably thought that because his rival didn't even need a sword, the other legends would destroy him too.

"His soul got poached too then?" Izanami shakes her head.

"No, he chose reincarnation because his rival got taken away. It made me sad but his intentions were so earnest that I agreed. I'd never keep someone here against their will." She glances away bashfully as she says this.

I want to tell her that someone will choose to stay here with her but it feels cruel to say when I'm not going to be that person.

"How about I start training now?" She latches onto the change in the topic like a lifeline.

"That sounds great! Do you need an opponent?" I furrow my brow and look at her questioningly.

She immediately waves her hands in denial, "Not me of course, I'm not a warrior or anything. I am a creation goddess though, I can make an opponent for you."

"Oh, so that's where all the undead come from." She grimaces a little and I realize she doesn't like the perversion of her original domain.

"Er, yes, I can only make undead now." Izanami slouches and I feel so bad for saying that aloud.

"That's great though! I won't feel bad about hurting what you make if it's already dead." I cringe a bit at how thick I'm laying it on. It works though because she smiles again.

She waves her hand and the ground glows with a sickly green light. A skeletal arm bursts through the dark soil and as it pulls itself up, muscle starts to form around the bone. When the undead is fully revealed it looks like someone took a muscle anatomy diagram and removed the face.

A humanoid punching bag if I've ever seen one.

"That's really cool, Izanami." She waves off the praise easily.

"It's nothing really. I've had a lot of practice over the centuries." I get closer to get a better look at it. The flesh is a pale grey but the thing doesn't seem weak at all. I can't use Ki as a metric because it's dead nor can I examine its soul since it doesn't have one. Still, it seems strong.

I poke it in the chest and have to hastily block, as it lashes out with a punch. The impact launches me across the training ground and breaks my forearm.

I hear Izanami yell out an apology as I land, "Sorry! I thought you were ready!"

"It's fine, I was just testing it out!" I yell back.

It hasn't moved since attacking me so maybe it only reflexively counters? I materialize my bow and fire an arrow watching it impact the undead. The arrow breaks on the undead's body and it continues to just stand there.

I nearly jump when I feel a tap on my shoulder, "Did you want to do ranged practice, Ibaraki?"

Izanami is standing behind me with her hand on her cheek and curious eyes. I didn't even see her move. That's some scary mobility.

"No, that's fine. What exactly does that undead do? So I know how to train with it." She nibbles on her lip as she thinks about it.

"I call him Gomu-kun because he bounces whatever you hit him with back at you! He's not very smart though. I thought you'd like fighting him because Crom has fun with him. Well, until Gomu-kun breaks." How does she know what rubber is but not modern history? No, never mind down that path leads only madness.

I step back up to the undead creation and get in a battle stance. Even though Izanami says it returns what you hit it with, that clearly isn't the case. I poked it and it broke my arm which implies a multiplication of force.

I sneak a quick glance at Izanami and wonder if she realizes how stupidly strong this thing is. Based on how she's humming and playing with the flower in her hair I highly doubt it.

I lash out at the undead punching bag with a jab to the chest and immediately deflect the counterblow. The force behind the counter is absolutely monstrous; I didn't even punch as hard as I could either!

I'm not quite quick enough as its fist cuts my cheek. If I was a little slower this thing would have decapitated me! Apparently, my deflection counts as an attack on it because its other fist flies unerringly into my side, crushing my ribs and pushing me away.

My stable stance makes it so I slide across the ground instead of being sent flying again. Once I stop sliding, I cradle my side and with the other hand, I wipe the blood away that's dripping out of the side of my mouth.

"Are you alright?" I grin at Izanami as she stares at me with concern.

"I'm more than alright! This is great!" With that, I launch myself at the undead and go for round three.

Let's see who breaks first!

I broke first.

'Gomu-kun' is certifiably indestructible, as befitting of the creation of a high tier creation god. I guess it makes sense considering she and Izanagi casually created the Japanese Archipeligo so even if her domain was corrupted by her death she's still absurdly capable. I think in some versions of the mythology she even created Raijin… or maybe it was multiple Thunder Gods…

Anyway, common sense won out eventually and I realized that if I kept hyping myself up I would end up smeared across Yomi when I hit the thing too hard. I don't yet have the durability to tank the hits that thing dishes out nor do I have the raw strength to destroy it in one hit. From what Izanami said about Crom playing with 'Gomu-kun' it's at least durable enough to not be destroyed in one hit by him when he's playing around.

When I get back to my temporary residence, I'm greeted by my clones lazing about. "Yo, original, how was your date~."

Clone Two makes kissing noises while Clone One laughs. I frown at them, "That isn't funny, and don't make jokes about it. You're me so you know exactly why that isn't possible. It isn't fair to Izanami when she's been essentially alone here all this time."

They sigh in unison and have the decency to look contrite. "Yeah, sorry about that. We got pretty bored while waiting for you to return."

The second clone grins as she elaborates, "We just got finished debating the merits of clone sex. Is it incest, is it masturbation? Can a clone impregnate yourself if we figure out that shapeshifting trick?"

I wrinkle my nose in disgust at the degenerates. They just laugh at me. "One of the perks of temporary existence, no shame about trivialities!"

"Please just tell me what you found out before I forcibly dispel you." They sniff disdainfully and turn their noses up in unison.

"You couldn't even if you tried. Maybe we should dispel you and decide who becomes the new main body." Clone One says confidently.

I sigh and Byakko manifests behind her and bites her head off. "Report please, Clone Two?"

"Course boss, I never doubted you!" She gives me a thumbs-up before continuing. "We found the residences of some swordsmen like Miyamoto Musashi, Sasaki Kojiro, Ushiwakamaru, and even Yasuke. Speaking of Yasuke, we found Oda Nobunaga's residence too!"

My annoyance at my clone's insubordination is wiped away by the excitement of the news. "That's so cool!"

"I know, right?" My clone beams. It takes me a second but I realize that I just had a fangirl moment with myself… My clone comes to the same realization because she clears her throat awkwardly.

"Um, yeah, we made a list." She points over at the table in the centre of the room. "I'm just going to go now…"

"Probably for the best." She nods and dispels herself. Byakko is just grinning at me looking way too amused.

"That's what you deserve for allowing Izanami to sick groomers on me. Oh yes, I almost forgot, 'You're quite annoying, kid' " Fair enough, Byakko, fair enough.

Time to get back to reading scrolls, I guess.