The first light of dawn crept gently over the rooftops, painting the sky in soft strokes of rose and gold. Cool air drifted through the abandoned temple corner, brushing over shattered idols and moss-covered stone.
Astra was still asleep, her cheek resting lightly against Akira's shoulder, strands of hair tickling his arm each time she breathed. Akira didn't move—he held himself painfully still, as though any shift might shatter the moment.
He smiled faintly.
Strange… you've forgotten everything, yet somehow it feels like you still remember me.
Astra murmured something in her sleep.
Akira blinked.
"…mm… no more… dumplings… they're chasing me…"
He stared at her.
"…chasing you?"
She mumbled again,this time leaning even closer, her forehead bumping his chest.
"…warm pillow…"
Akira stiffened, heat rushing to his ears. "I'm… a pillow?" he whispered, half-offended, half-softened.
Astra gripped his sleeve unconsciously.
"…hey… hey—don't pull," he muttered, flustered.
But then Something shifted in the air. A prickling sensation crawled up his spine. A soft, distant ringing… like a bell trembling under water. Akira immediately stiffened.
His eyes narrowed, scanning the shadows.
"…it's starting," he breathed.
He carefully eased Astra off him, gently guiding her to rest against the pillar. Strands of her hair fell over her face; he brushed them away almost instinctively.
"I'll be back," he whispered, voice soft but urgent. "Don't wake up until then."
He straightened.
Then, with a silent exhale, he reached for the cloth she'd tied around his arm. He tugged it away.
The wound beneath was gone smooth as unbroken jade.
Without hesitation, he looped the cloth around his eyes, tying it as a blindfold.
He allowed himself one last glance at her sleeping form before turning and disappearing down the abandoned path.
A short walk later…
He stepped into a forgotten courtyard buried deep within the temple grounds—one even the priests pretended didn't exist. Moss-eaten stones framed the space, and rows of ancient idols stood half-consumed by vines, their once-divine faces worn down to unreadable expressions.
Akira exhaled slowly. He lowered himself into a seated position, legs folded neatly, fingertips aligning into a precise mudra. The air around him shifted, thickened.
Minutes slipped by.
Above, the sky darkened unnaturally clouds spiraling into existence the way storms had gathered on the night of the tear. Wind curled through the stones, picking up dust, whispering against the vines.
Then—
A single thunderclap cracked across the heavens.
In the next heartbeat—
BOOOOM.
Something fell.
A bell—dropped straight out of the open sky like a divine reprimand.
BONK!
It struck the top of his head.
"Ouch—!!"
He clutched his skull, wincing, the bell bouncing off and rolling across the stone.
"…was that really necessary?"
Above him, the sky rumbled again as if answering:
Yes.
Akira groaned, rubbing the sore spot.
A voice, soft as drifting incense, slid into the courtyard.
"Does it hurt?"
Akira stiffened instantly. He didn't answer. He didn't need to. He recognized that voice instantly.
There was only one being whose voice carried that gentle tone… right before the punishment.
He turned his head slightly and before he could speak—
THWACK.
A folded fan smacked the back of his head with divine precision.
"Of course it does!" the voice snapped. "Useless decedent of mine."
"Ouch—! It really hurts…" He finally turned, slowly, almost fearfully.
"…Goddess Yunmei…"
She stood beneath the vine-draped idol, yet the shadows did not claim her. Instead, they bent away, sliding aside as though unwilling to touch her. Her form was faint, almost translucent, less a body of flesh than a presence shaped by spirit, hovering between what was real and what had already begun to fade.
"It should hurt," she said coolly. "You've troubled me again." She slowly lowered her fan… and gave him a glare so cold he felt it through the blindfold. His bones stiffened. His spine straightened out of sheer survival instinct.
Akira immediately bowed so low his forehead nearly hit the floor.
"With the heavens' blessing, glory to all life; before divine witness, I offer my sincerity; beneath the moon above and the sun behind, I bow."
A sharp thwack landed on his head.
"Ow—!"
Goddess Yunmei clicked her tongue, folding her ornate fan with a snap. Her presence shimmered moon-pale skin, hair like drifting starlight, robes woven with shifting constellations. The air around her hummed with a pressure no human could carry.
"So dramatic," she said, eyes narrowing. "You bow now, but five breaths ago you were summoning me here for the eight-hundred-and-ninety-sixth time."
Akira stiffened. "You… counted?"
"Of course I counted!" she snapped. "Do you know how shameful this is? An imperial prince! my descendant! calling out so desperately that I had to twist loopholes, dodge heavenly guards, and sneak down using a spiritual bypass just to avoid breaking the laws!" She jabbed him with her fan again. "You are ruining my reputation in heaven!"
Akira rubbed his forehead, sighing. "Ancestor, I—"
"And don't even get me started on your royal bloodline." She threw her hands up toward the sky. "Generations of Raizen princes, all raised to be pillars of strength—and then there's you. Disguised as a beggar, sneaking around temples, upsetting the balance of fate, and—" she paused, squinting, "—actually that part I quite liked."
"So… you're not angry about that?"
"I didn't say that!" Her glare sharpened. "It was entertaining. That is all."
Akira sighed internally. As always, impossible to tell if she's pleased or furious.
Goddess Yunmei paced along the mossy stones, inspecting the cracked idols, scoffing loudly.
"Look at this place! This is part of my divine temple and it looks like it hasn't seen worship in four hundred years. They should be ashamed. You should be ashamed! And your ancestors—!" She pointed skyward dramatically. "If they weren't already dead, I would kill them myself!"
Akira winced. "B-But I restored half the—"
"Oh, yes. And then you sent that useless scaled dog after me again."
"…Scaled dog…? You mean Ryuzan?"
"Yes, that lizard-brained dragon." She flicked her fan in dismissal. "The first time he came groveling, he nearly set the Sanctum of All Cures ablaze. The second time—oh, heavens—he attempted to water the Divine Lotus of Life of The God of Rain." Her voice dropped, frost creeping into every word. "With lava."
She lifted a sleeve, wiping the sheen of sweat from her brow and exhaled sharply. "Fortunately, that lotus belonged to the Rain God. He managed to save it by drowning the lava beneath a deluge." Her gaze sharpened. "Otherwise… do you have any idea what kind of calamity would have followed?"
"That big dog," she huffed, "doesn't even know how to water flowers. Instead, he nearly burned them to ash—almost erasing the life source of an immortal god's body." Her eyes narrowed, voice edged with cold satisfaction.
"Because of that blunder, he was punished under divine law. Sentenced to the Thunder Tribunal—chained beneath the Ninefold Skies, where heavenly lightning carved obedience into his bones."
Akira covered his face and let out a helpless laugh. "Hooh… poor Ryuzan. Cast into the Sea of Endless Thunder, where storms never sleep." He exhaled softly, voice tinged with regret. "I'm sorry… I couldn't help you."
"Poor?" Goddess Yunmei scoffed, rolling her eyes so hard the clouds above seemed to flinch. "If that fire-breathing buffoon ever comes near my garden, I'll personally turn him into a teapot."
Akira swallowed. "I will… guide him."
"Good." She snapped her fan open again with quite authority.
"That big dog—and the Sword of Profound Azure…" Her lip curled. "Both carry enormous power, but are utterly useless without the one meant to wield them."
Akira stiffened, quietly repeating, "…Profound Azure?"
Yunmei nodded, attention sharpening. "Descendant, you remember it correctly." She turned toward him fully, expression firm and losing its earlier humor.
"Now. Explain why you dragged me here at a time like this. The Divine Bloom is close, the heavens are already restless, and you're wandering around carelessly as though fate hasn't smacked you enough for one lifetime." She exhaled sharply. "Speak quickly. I came only in spiritual form. I cannot remain long before the thread binding me fades."
Akira took a deep breath, almost a bracing breath, mentally crying.
At least let me finish talking first… please.
Then he lifted his head.
"Ancestor… I need your help. A problem—no, a disaster—is going to appear soon during the Ivory Lotus Bloom."
Yunmei's eyes narrowed.
"What kind of disaster?"