She couldn't breathe. She was lying on her knees, bent over so far her forehead was touching the ground, and she was taking in massive gulps of air and possibly hyperventilating and she couldn't breathe-

She was trying so hard not to think about those demons, the effect that Powerslash had and the aftermath, the sickening sounds that came from the demon every time she threw Retribution, she knew they weren't human, they deserved it, they would have killed her if she hadn't killed them, she knew this she knew this she knew this—

She felt a hand on her back, and she would have jumped out of her skin and maybe lashed out with the mirror if she hadn't heard the quiet "shhh, it's okay, you'll be alright" that went with it. Despite the reassurance, she still flinched. Taking another deep breath that didn't help at all, she turned her head slightly to look at Sakuya, the spirit kneeling down beside her and gently rubbing her back.

"Are you hurt?"

"…N-no..."

"There's blood—"

"It's- It's n-not m-mine."

They stayed like that for a little while, Sakuya rubbing circles into her back while she tried to breathe. Eventually she sat up.

"I… I have to cut down the-the fruit?"

"Yes."

When she stood up, Sakuya was gone. She was probably tired, Ellie figured.

She looked up into the branches of the barren tree. She could see an obscenely large peach some distance above her, partially obscured by the numerous amount of branches. She moved to get a better angle, climbing up on one of the nearby boulders to get a better vantage point. Eventually she shifted enough to get a clear view of the stem that connected the peach to its branch. She raised her hand, fingers still dripping ink, pictured a blade cutting through the green stem, forcing down the images of blades cutting through demons and blood sprays, and swung her hand.

The peach dropped, hitting several branches on its way down. She watched it make its slow, bumpy descent, and then finally roll off the last branch. As soon as it hit the ground, it exploded, releasing a burst of energy and wind in every direction. It was so powerful that she was blown backward, sliding off the rock and landing painfully on the ground. When she twisted her body, turning around to watch the progress of the restoration, she saw that the grass, which before had been dead and gray, sprung to life, green and vibrant. Wildflowers exploded across the fields, more colorful than she had ever seen, and leaves erupted on trees that had once been dead and barren in a matter of seconds, blooms dotting the sudden green canopy. Now, where the world outside the gate had been gray and lifeless, it was filled with color and energy.

Well, as much as it could be. Though the plant life was thriving, the sky was still pure black. Suddenly, she wondered how she was seeing, if she had no light source— not even stars, though they wouldn't have been much help anyway. She turned around to look for one, but the only thing that was bright was the portal, and that couldn't possibly produce enough light to make the area as bright as it was. And suddenly, she realized that it was everything: the rocks, the grass, even Konohana itself was emitting a soft glow, just enough so that the area was decently lit from the combined light. It would explain why the light stopped almost immediately past the Torii gate.

With that explained, she stood up. She already knew the town would be a statue— there was no point going down there. She would have to go straight to the lookout to raise the sun. But how was she going to see? She didn't have anything to guide her, and if she took a rock outside the gate it would probably stop being holy or something. She sighed. She'd just have to feel her way down. Hopefully the layout of Kamiki was the same as she knew it to be.

She stepped through the gate and was immediately plunged into darkness. She shivered violently, the sudden cold seeping into her skin, and put her hoodie on again, desperately trying to ignore the dried blood on her skin and clothes. She stretched out her hands, feeling for any obstacles, and slowly walked down.

At some point during her trek, she felt a rock wall to her left, and putting one hand on that to keep her bearings, the walk was much faster. It was still painful, though. The road was mostly smooth, and though she was on the grass most of the time, which was still soft, both paths had the occasional rock that she would step on or trip over, which was not at all fun with her bare feet. Eventually, the rock wall suddenly curved left, and she knew that she had finally come to the intersection. She continued forward— or at least, she meant to, until she tripped over the extremely short fence and landed flat on her face. She let out a frustrated "ugh", pushing herself to her feet again, putting a hand to her face to feel for injuries until she felt the familiar slickness on her cheek. She rubbed it off with her shoulder, as there wasn't much else she could do, and began to feel her way forward once more.

By the time she ran into the second Torii gate, she was getting really irritated, and she knew that it was only going to get worse when she took the uphill path. She let out another frustrated cry, throwing Divine Retribution in the gate's general direction. It flared to life with the action, flames appearing around the edges and lighting up the immediate area, though she felt no unbearable heat from it even as it came to rest inches from her arm.

"… Oh."

With the addition of the flames, the going was much easier now. She could see a fair distance in front of her, and now she could move up the stone steps without stubbing her toes or tripping every other step. Now it was only a matter of fighting exhaustion as she went up the ridiculous amount of steps to the lookout platform, not even bothering to go around the dried up pond to get to the final set of steps. She stepped onto the deck, the wooden boards creaking under her weight, and walked to the center of the circular platform, noting that it was very large— twenty people could easily fit on it alone, if it could hold their weight. But she was getting sidetracked— she needed to bring out the sun.

She held up her hand and made a circular motion, beginning the task that was becoming quite familiar, and willed the sun to rise above the mountains into the sky.

Nothing happened. Maybe she didn't do a complete circle? Brushstrokes were apparently everything, after all. She tried again.

Still no sun.

She tried again. And again, and again. Maybe something else was the problem?

She lifted her hand and really imagined the sun rising into the sky, the heat seeping into her skin, her surroundings becoming brighter, more vibrant. She made the circle.

She made the circle, over and over, each time her imagination becoming more detailed and vibrant, even using her other hand to hold her arm steady as she drew circles— but each time, the sun didn't rise. Not even the stars reappeared. Something was very obviously wrong.

"Sakuyaaaaa!" She called, practically storming back into the sacred ground. "I'm trying to bring out the sun and it's not working!"

Sakuya appeared in a shower of glitter, hovering a few feet above the ground.

Ellie came to a stop in front of her, panting. "I can't bring out the sun, and— and the villagers are all stone, and stuff, and it's still dark out. My— my brush isn't working."

"You don't have the power of the Sun," Sakuya said.

"I… what? I don't?"

"Amaterasu holds the power of the Sun, but she disappeared some time ago," she explained, floating down to Ellie's level. "She never had the chance to give it to you."

"… So… so what do I do? I'm— I'm stuck. Everyone's stone and it's pitch black and I can't— I can't bring out the sun—" Ellie rambled, near tears. "And— and it's gonna be stuck forever like this if I don't, and I can't bring it out—"

"Ellie," Sakuya interrupted gently, placing a hand on Ellie's arm. "You do not directly have the power of the Sun, yes. But, if my theory is correct, you have an alternative."

"A— what?" she sniffed, wiping her eyes.

Sakuya lifted up the arm that held the holy mirror. "This was Amaterasu's divine weapon. It is a miracle it was not taken along with her… but the point is, it may still hold some remnants of her power."

"But how do I use it?" Ellie asked, shifting the mirror so she held it in both hands.

"I do not know." Sakuya admitted. "It is only a theory. But it is worth trying, is it not?"

"…Okay." She turned to go, then paused as a thought occurred to her. "… Hey, how did you get it back if you don't have enough power to travel?"

But Sakuya was already gone.

For what must have been an hour, she sat in the middle of the lookout deck, holding the mirror in her hands and trying various ways of summoning the sun using the mirror's power. She'd drawn a circle holding the mirror, holding it up and thinking of the sun appearing, even throwing the mirror into the sky (though that had resulted with it almost nailing her in the head on its return), but nothing had happened and the sky was still dark. She threw it down in a moment of anger, crossing her arms and just sitting there for a while, stewing in her frustration. Sakuya hadn't even given her any clues. She huffed, shifting so that she fell onto her side, and continued to lay there.

"…Amaterasu holds the power of the Sun…"

"…never had the chance to give it to you…"

"…may hold some remnants of her power…"

She sat up.

Ammy hadn't been able to give her the power directly… but if Divine Retribution still had some, could she absorb it?

She shifted onto her knees, feeling around for the mirror. The flames had gone out as soon as it had left her grasp, leaving her in total darkness, but soon enough, her fingers found cold metal. She picked it up, staring contemplatively in its general direction (it was still dark, she couldn't tell).

She wasn't sure how she should go about it. It wasn't like Yomigami or Tachigami, where they had given her their energy and she absorbed it— she'd have to do this herself. But how was she supposed to do it? Just… believe she was absorbing it?

… The Brush Gods were all about believing.

She held the mirror to her chest, closing her eyes and imagining the power flowing from the mirror, through her fingertips, up her arms, into her chest, pooling there and spreading throughout the rest of her body. She stood there for a minute, starting to feel kind of dumb for standing there hugging a mirror with her eyes shut, until she realized that she wasn't imagining the warmth flowing through her arms.

She opened her eyes.

She raised her hand.

She drew a circle, and she believed.

For a moment, nothing happened. She lowered her hand, and she started to cry, almost throwing down the mirror again.

And then, something happened.

It wasn't as dramatic as the sun suddenly flourishing into existence. There was a sound as if someone had exhaled, long and slow, and a warm breeze blew over her. The stars twinkled into being, and over the mountains, the first rays of dawn appeared, slowly and gradually lightening the sky.

"Hm? Who are you?"

She turned, suddenly feeling exhausted as she tried to focus on the older man approaching. "I'm… I'm Ellie?"

The man grunted, eyeing her warily. "Ellie, eh? That's an unusual name. How did you get here? I'd remember a young woman such as you passing through the village, specially with such foreign clothes."

Ellie stared at him, mind going blank. "Um."

He raised an eyebrow.

"S— the, uh, spirit of the Konohana tree sent me on a mission to purify the land." Which was technically true. She just hoped he had enough faith in the tree to believe it— she couldn't think of any other excuse that would explain why she was here. "These clothes are, uh, a gift. From her. For… mobility." Nailed it.

He stared at her, long and hard. She began to sweat bullets. Eventually he made a "hmmm" sort of noise and shifted to lean on his staff. "Well, I dare say that if the spirit of Konohana sent you on a quest, then we must do all we can to help. I am Mr. Orange, the elder of Kamiki village."

Woah, he accepted her excuse that easily? Nice. "It's… a, uh, pleasure to meet you." She shifted somewhat awkwardly. What was she supposed to say in a situation like this?

He turned around, slowly beginning the trek back to the village. "You didn't answer my question of how you came to be here without passing through the village."

Fuck.

"I'm—" She didn't know how to respond to this. … now that she thought about it, how did she get here? "… I don't know," she told him.

Old man Orange turned to look at her, one bushy eyebrow raised. She shifted uncomfortably. "I— I really don't. I… um, I woke up underneath Konohana, and… and she gave me this," she held out the holy mirror, splattered with blood and ink. She winced. "And, um, she— she told me to use it to purify the land. She didn't… tell me a lot. Other than that."

There was another long pause. By the time she started feeling like throwing herself off the lookout from sheer embarrassment, he spoke up again. "Hmm! Honesty. I like that."

"You… you believe me?"

"Well, in the absence of any other explanations, it is the only one that makes sense," he chuckled. "And I must say, holding a weapon of the gods is very convincing."

She let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. "Oh."

"Now, come," he said, turning back around.

"Whhheeere are we going?" She asked cautiously, taking a few steps forward.

"To the village, of course," he replied.

"… Okay."

When they turned a particularly sharp corner and came into view of the village, she stopped, awed by how big it was, even though it was still only a village. There must have been twenty houses at least, and that was only what she could see from the incline. "How— How many people live here?" She asked, jogging to catch up to Mr. Orange.

"Oh, not much," he said, "only 43, including children. We're a small village."

43 people. That was larger than her entire living family, including in-laws!

They came through yet another Torii gate, finally leaving the mountain (or was it a hill?) and becoming level with the village.

"You're welcome to stay with us for as long as you need," he said, turning to look at her. "I'm sure my wife would be delighted to meet you."

"Um— Th-thank you," she stammered, clutching the mirror as if it were the most precious thing in the world (which it sort of was).

"Would you like a tour, or would you prefer to explore on your own?" he asked.

"Uh, I'd… I'd like to explore, myself, if—if you wouldn't mind."

He nodded once in understanding. "Well, I will show you to our home, at the very least, so you know where to come back to when you feel the need for a hot dinner and a comfortable bed."

He showed her the house— it really wasn't that hard to find, it had a giant orange painted on it for god's sake— and went inside, leaving her to go on her way.

The path through was simple, at least— It was one road, directly through the village, with a few side roads branching off here and there, but nothing complicated. It seemed that the village was comprised of mostly shops, with second floors or extensions for the family to live in. The exploration was uneventful, as it was dawn, and though some villagers were already out and about, most of the village was quiet. The village itself, though it had a variety of shops and houses, was small, and she had already started trying to memorize what was where. Outside the village, she saw a few families out in the rice paddies and vegetable fields, parents and children working together to tend to the crops in the early morning. A small figure waved at her, and she waved back. With so few people up in the early morning, she had to question why Mr. Orange had been up at the deck at that hour. And it seemed so quick, too. Had he been unusually fast, or was she just really tired and didn't remember the time passing?

She was probably overthinking things. She shook her head, continuing down the main path towards the river, wishing for some paper to make a map with, or at the very least something to write on her hand with. She had considered the ink that she was still dripping from her fingers, but it was too thick to make notes with and took up too much space on her hand.

She was quickly approaching the figure she hoped was Kushi. The waterwheel was just outside a rice paddy, both of which were outside the village, so she guessed that this was the paddy Kushi worked in, but she wasn't close enough to see any distinguishing features yet. She hopped the low fence bordering the path and the paddy, walking through the rows of rice to get closer to the young woman. Belatedly, she realized she hadn't rolled up her pajama pants, and they were now getting covered in mud. Even more belatedly, she realized her pajama pants were already covered in mud and ink and, more importantly, demon blood.

Fuck.

This was going to be a really awkward encounter. The river was nearby, but she had no soap and the blood was already at least a few hours old, so she wouldn't be able to get much of it off. Resisting the urge to hide her face in her hands and lie down in shame forever, she continued forward, internally berating herself for being so dumb. "Um, h-hi."

Kushi turned towards her in surprise, smiling at her and standing as she wiped the mud off her hands as best as she could. "Oh, hello! I haven't seen you around here before— are you travelling?"

"S-sort of, yeah," Ellie replied, put off by the fact that she had to look down at Kushi, who had to have been at least a head shorter than her. "I'm—I'm on a… mission. To, uh, purify the land." Yes, okay, cool, good response. It was true, anyway, though she felt a little uncomfortable stating it so bluntly. She felt like she'd be ridiculed for saying something so outrageous— but then, this was Nippon, wasn't it? Where gods and demons were real and people actually believed in them.

"Oh my goodness! Your clothes! Are you alright?!" Kushi suddenly exclaimed, putting her hands to her mouth in horror.

She looked down at herself. "Oh- n-no, this is demon blood, I'm fine, haha." Just some mental trauma, no big deal. Possibly a concussion? Definitely some bruising. "I just had an, uh, encounter on the way. Soap and water and I'll be good. … I'm, uh, Ellie, by the way." She bowed briefly.

"Kushi." The other woman bowed in return, giving Ellie another smile. "This is my rice paddy; I grow the rice for sake."

"You take care of this paddy all by yourself?" Ellie asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Oh, not always," she laughed. "Sometimes I give the children pocket money for coming to help, and Susano usually gives me a hand— he lives across the bridge, in that house way over there." she said, pointing to a lonely house in the distance. "They say he's a direct descendant of our legendary hero, Nagi. He always carries around a huge sword on his back. And he loves his sake, too, he often pops around here to buy it. He left recently, however. Something about slaying the demons outside?"

Susano had already gone, which meant the boulder was probably out of the way, too. So she could leave at any time? That was nice. "Would you like some help?" She asked.

Kushi laughed, waving a hand. "No, that's quite alright. I'm just weeding right now. The rice won't be ready for another week or so. Thank you for offering, though!"

She stayed and chatted with Kushi while she worked. The shops still weren't open yet, though now she could hear the sounds of a forge in the distance. She built a cover story while they talked; she was from the North, that mysterious place no one had ever been to, which explained everything about her— her unusual eyes, hair, and height (she was surprised to learn that the average height in the feudal era was so low, only 4" 9' compared to Ellie's 5" 5'). Summoned by the Spirit of Konohana, she was appointed by the gods to purify the land of demons. The clothes, she said, were a divine gift for mobility, as she had already told Mr. Orange— no sense changing the story, that just meant her lie would be caught faster. She had also managed to enlist Kushi's help in teaching her about this supposed new, foreign culture, which really just meant Kushi would help her with her shopping when she was free. By the time Ellie said her goodbyes and left Kushi to her weeding, the sun was well over the horizon, and the village was as busy as a population of 43 could get.

Suddenly, she didn't want to look around. Her clothes were a disaster, her hair was tangled and messy with dried blood, and she looked nothing like the natives, not to mention she towered over them. She was completely and utterly out of her element. She didn't even have any money, she realized, watching someone buying fish from a stall.

She looked back. Kushi wasn't done with her weeding yet; she still had a third of the paddy to go through. She had time.

She skirted around the outside of the village, making sure not to get too close to the fields for fear of running into one of the families she had seen and starting another awkward encounter, and began her ascent back up the hill. Assuming it was a hill. It could have been a mountain, thought it seemed too small for that, but she didn't know what the official mountain height was. It could even be a mountain by feudal Japan standards, she didn't know. It was a mystery.

She was at the portal now, doubled over and gasping for breath because a) running, b) uphill running, why did she think that was a good idea, holy shit. She straightened up and started moving forward, but as soon as she looked back at the portal her mind's eye was filled with images of demons dead and dying, blood sprays and rotting flesh and the crunch of bones breaking and organs shifting—

Her body moved back faster than her feet could and she fell, hitting the ground hard. She couldn't move, she lay there desperately trying to breath and think of nice things and very, very desperately trying not to cry.

It wasn't working.

She wasn't making any gross sobbing noises, at the very least. She desperately wished Sakuya was there, but the spirit had made too many appearances as it was and she was probably horribly tired and unable to come out again.

Oh, god, but she didn't want to go in there again. She was trying so hard not to think about the results of her last visit, but they kept dancing at the edges of her mind, lingering, creeping, coming forward and then running back when she tried to keep her mind on good things, like Sakuya and Kushi.

She couldn't keep doing this, she had to move. She had to move, she had to get the yen and bathe and get all the ink and demon blood off her, hopefully the rotting carcasses wouldn't still be there—

No, that was a bad train of thought, she needed to stop thinking about them, that wouldn't get her anywhere. Think nice things. Good things. Distracting things. Count to 100 in Japanese. She needed to practice, she was getting rusty since her dad had been out a lot on business trips recently and she hadn't been able to talk with him, her mom couldn't speak it as well as she could so she wasn't really an ideal choice—

At some point during her mental rant, she had stood up and gone through the portal without realizing it. She stiffened, eyes darting up the path, but she wasn't near the point where she had cut them down and she couldn't see any evidence of decay. Unwillingly, her thoughts flickered back to the initial encounter, where the first body had started to blacken and sag and the second wasn't yet—

No, she thought, squashing the memory down and ignoring how her hands had started shaking again. 100, count to 100. Practice. Walk forward and practice, keep your eyes up and ahead.

She stepped forward. Ichi.

She took another step. Ni.

Another. San.

Counting her steps, she moved. Shakily, slowly, with a lot of hesitation. But it was progress. It was something.