You'll check Kosaki first for additional victims, retrieve the remains of your predecessor, and then go over the shrine wards, in that order. You bow to Kami-sama before leaving the shrine as fast as your mutilated legs will carry you. Which is actually pretty fast. You'd be excited at how fast you can run now, if you weren't an unholy abomination.
From the outside, the grounds of the shrine seem so much larger than they were in life. Not only that, but the area is practically
radiant, serene and glowing. It's beautiful, unlike you. The only imperfections are where you and that ruffian died. Come to think of it, where is his spirit? He died too, did he not?
Kami-sama senses your question. It ate him. You're sorry you wanted to know.
The boundary between the shrine and the outside is marked by the Torii gate, but also by something much more obvious. The very air itself seems to split, divided at the border, along the axis of the gate. The gate itself is a portal through the barrier, and beyond that barrier....
You look back at the shrine. It's picturesque, and the sky is a deep blue, tinted with gold. Outside…
The sky is red. Everything is covered in shadow. The ground itself seems warped, the trees twisted. You recognize everything, and yet it's all so
wrong.
You're scared. You don't want to go.
You have no choice.
With shaking limbs, you slowly push through the thin layer inside the gate, and as you come out the other side you're nearly brought to your knees.
The air itself seems to weigh down on you, tinged with something that feels like pain. This is the land of the dead? You almost wish that it had been nothingness! You want to run back to the comforting aura of the shrine, but Kami-sama needs you to carry out your responsibilities, so with a helpless whimper you begin to descend the stairs towards the village.
You hope that whatever's down there isn't more horrifying than what's up here.
It's worse.
Because of course it is.
What would make you think that a pathetic existence like yourself deserved any reprieve from this waking nightmare?
The village is twisted and warped like the rest of the world. The houses drip with black ichor, the walkways sunken into the ground and filled with what looks like blood. Through the shock, you notice that some houses are more twisted than others.
You can still see the living. They're bright existences, untouched by the filthy corruption of death. If you watch how they move, you can see the differences in how the land of the dead and the land of the living are laid out.
Then there's the dead.
You aren't the only spirit in Kosaki. You've spoken to enough of them while you were alive to know that.
Still, nothing could have prepared you for this.
They're gaunt, with gaping voids where their eyes would be. Many of them have slack jaws and gray skin. They seem to be colorless, with light much fainter than those of the living. Even you shine brightly compared to them.
And they see you.
They recoil in horror, never letting you get too close.
You even recognize little Hitomi, who died last harvest. Far too young. As awful as she looks, you're far worse, and she shrieks as you try to approach her, scrambling away.
You're glad Kami-sama gave you a mask. You're sure the screams would be louder if they could see what you really looked like now.
After walking around Kosaki, trying to give the dead townsfolk a respectable berth, you notice… something on the ground near the village's edge. A few other spirits are gathered around it, and they all flee when they notice you.
It's… a person.
Another spirit.
It's hard to describe what's been done to them, but it's almost like… like someone grabbed their limbs and their head, and pulled in different directions. Pulled until their body tore, then feasted on what was inside.
You don't think it could get any worse… but then it does. The eviscerated spirit
moans in pain.
You gasp, staggering back. It's… not alive, but still here. Spirits can survive this much injury? And they can
feel it?
Kami-sama has no directions on what to do with the victim. It will fade away soon. The monster devoured too much of it.
You don't recognize them, but even so… it shouldn't suffer.
You extend your claws.
"I'm sorry," you try and whisper, your voice twisted into an animalistic growl.
Sharp inhuman digits coated in glowing power tear into the spirit, eliciting one last shriek of pain before you silence it forever. It crumbles like the monster did, the ashes drifting away into the wind.
It… It had to be done.
May they finally rest in peace.
Kami-sama's guidance leads you to the forest just outside Kosaki. Your predecessor fell here. You are to retrieve her remains.
After seeing that other spirit back in the village though, you're hardly eager about this… not that you have a choice at all.
It's strange to think that someone else was in your position before you came along. All along, there was a dead Shrine Maiden serving Kami-sama… All that time, tending to the spiritual grounds as you attended to the living one.
There's so much you wish you could ask her, but since Kami-sama wants you to retrieve her remains, she must be dead. The monster must have killed her. Maybe she tried to prevent it from coming near the town?
As you near the area Kami-sama directed you to, you notice the deep gouges in the ground. Presumably left by the monster. It's eerie, taking the placement of a large spider's gait, but each impression is that of dozens of human hands, clawing at the earth.
Truly, you never want to see anything like that ever again, but you know you have no choice. Your own reflection will remind you of this new world you inhabit.
There it is, off to the side of the path. You recognize the tattered garments of a priestess, and… her upper body, leaning against a tree. Only her upper body. She must have been torn in half.
Her body is twisted and malformed like yours, and half her mask is shattered. Her face seems reminiscent of a fox, but still somewhat human.
If that's how you really look, maybe you don't look so bad? Later, perhaps when you find something that can reflect your appearance…
So Kami-sama wants you to bring her back? You kneel down-
Her eyes blink open, and she looks at you.
"Yaah!" you fall on your back trying to get away. She's still here! You probably should have expected this, given the villager earlier, but still!
You wait for her to speak, almost fearful of what she might say, but she is silent. She merely stares at you with a blank expression… and hollow eyes.
After a long period of silence, she closes her eyes again.
Maybe you could heal her somehow? If Kami-sama knows of some way to rejuvenate her, then-
The pressure. Kami-sama wants you to retrieve her body.
Your claws extend, you pull off your mask and open your mouth.
Kami-sama wants you to retrieve the body.
You don't want to do this! You can't stop yourself as you kneel down over her, your gaping maw lined with fangs.
She opens her eyes and she meets your horrified gaze.
Resignation, perhaps relief? She closes her eyes again.
You retrieve your predecessor, as Kami-sama desired.
The walk back to the shrine is long, and you can't stop retching.
You
devoured her.
You tore her soul apart and absorbed her into yourself!
You can
feel her, she's a part of you now, her spiritual energy is now yours!
It makes you sick.
You have her memories too. You… You think you'd have her sense of self too, if there was anything left of it.
She was a drone, a walking puppet of Kami-sama. Nothing that was the woman she once was had survived the centuries serving the guardian spirit of Kosaki.
She remembered nothing but… it's hard to process. All she remembered were her days blending into the next, serving Kami-sama's will unquestioningly, tirelessly.
Is that what you'll become eventually? Will you lose everything that made you
you?
Walking through town, you ignore the wailing dead. You ignore the villagers as they run about. Your sister is there, surrounded by others, but you pay them no mind. Two of them seem to be carrying a body that you cannot see. You ignore that too.
You just want to wake up. You want to greet the first light of day, feel the morning breeze, and just forget about all this.
But you're really dead, aren't you?
You died. And nothing but this endless terror awaits you.
Maybe this was why your predecessor faded away over time.
Perhaps you will too. You know you're not that strong.
As you pass back into the shrine, the air fills your lungs, feeling like cold water on a hot day. The oppressive weight of outside vanishes.
You… You guess you feel a little better in here. That's something to be thankful for.
But the shrine wards, right. You need to check the shrine wards.
There are four you know of. You periodically checked them back when you were alive.
Of course, you're checking something a bit different now. Your predecessor's memories guide you.
Three glowing prayers written in the air, shining bright.
The fourth has been rent in two, fluttering like torn fabric in the wind.
Thankfully, this doesn't require any sort of existential horror to fix.
A chant, practiced prayers, words you've spoken many times.
The barrier seals back up, solid and strong.
You do admit, being able to see the actual effects of your spiritual powers is… cool. Yes, cool. Back when you were living, you had the sense that you were doing something, but now that you can see it… you'd be jumping happily.
That is, you would be if you weren't a twisted mockery of the girl you once were.
As you turn back to the shrine, a wave of satisfaction rushes over and through you, making you feel warm. Kami-sama is pleased. You know it's making you feel this way, but you can't help but cling to the only pleasant emotions you've felt ever since you died.
Kami-sama has no further need for your services today. You may do whatever you wish.
You bow respectfully to it, then sit down on a rock near the gate.
You can do whatever you want… how amusing. What can you do, now that you're dead?
{{AFTER LIFE}}
[] Practice using your spiritual powers. You're going to need them.
[] Try and see what your sister is doing. Maybe she'll be able to sense your presence?
[] See how far you can walk away from Kosaki.
[] Kill yourself
