3.7 - Vain and Illusory World
Erien
God's Weakest Soldier
- Location
- Georgia
- Pronouns
- He/Him
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqTVUiNFECU
[X] [You shall speak to Miko, now.]
Thanks to @Armoury for the beta!
—
The name of Prince Shotoku is one that was revered even in your own lifetime. He was astute enough to identify Bodhidharma with but a glance, founder of literary traditions, patient and kind. The founder of Buddhism in Japan, the author of the annotated commentaries on the three sutras. The one who built the temple your sister eventually inhabited.
This much, you know from memory - but you know other things as well. That Toyosatomimi no Miko had no faith in the sutras that she wrote about, using them as a mere political prop to further her other reforms. That Miko rejected the concept of enlightenment, and sought to obtain immortality.
That Miko studied under Seiga Kaku to reach this goal, and then centuries later knowingly sent her former mentor to a final death - at your hands. That Miko was staring at you from a mile away, and then from a mere three feet, as you closed the distance between the two of you. You stared down at her, saying nothing.
She was a Lord, she was accustomed to speaking first, after all.
Miko had chosen to inhabit a shorter form, that of a young woman with silvery blonde hair, but the well-practised posture of a leader was more than sufficient to offset that, giving her a presence that belied her size. On someone else of her figure, the sagely robes with their embroidered symbols and the royal purple cloak may have looked ridiculous - but on Prince Shotoku, they seemed quite appropriate, perhaps even understated.
She bows, ever so slightly - a ruler welcoming a respected religious figure into their court. "Greetings, Myouren Hijiri. One who rids Gensokyo of evil is ever welcome here."
"Toyosatomimi no Miko," you say as bluntly as you allow yourself. "I am not your executioner."
She releases her bow. "The decision to act was solely your own, of course. I cannot compel you to act - indeed, the amassed might of Gensok-"
You interrupt. There was a time you wouldn't have, but you were, to your own surprise, rather annoyed. "You may lie to your followers, you may lie to your nation. But you cannot lie to me. Now, explain yourself."
She pauses for a brief moment, before shrugging. "No doubt you've inferred much of it already - Seiga Kaku was, to put it in the lightest possible terms, not virtuous. She was, as she always was, obsessed with power for its own sake. For a time, I tolerated her, and I maintain that the good I did with that knowledge and power outweighed the costs." She sighs. "Even the foul-hearted can worm their way into sympathy through mere exposure. If you demand the truth, then I cannot say that I didn't care about her - she was a mentor for many years to me. But the time to tolerate her actions has passed."
"And you were incapable of doing so yourself?"
She turns slightly away from you, her gaze shifting towards the horizon. "Perhaps I could have. She would have forced my hand at some point - I was satisfied with the power I have now, and the life I can now live - and she was not. Her ambitions would have brought her into conflict with me, or Gensokyo, or both, sooner or later."
She turns back to you. "But then you appeared. A better solution, on all counts. A minimal risk to me and mine, and an advantageous political positioning. I calculated that you would rid this land of the wicked hermit, if you crossed paths, and it seems I was correct."
"You have left the realm of the living much the same as she has, and while you did not make her sacrifices, you benefited from them all the same. Do you believe yourself safe?"
Miko hums, nodding along. "Certainty is not something one can benefit from while still present in these lands. The world is vain and illusory, and the Buddha's realm alone is true - this much, I truly do believe. The role of a ruler is to navigate the uncertainties and whims of chance." Her eyes bore into yours. "So, to be blunt - yes. I believe that my actions are not such that they demand reprisal. I believe that you have more pressing matters to attend to."
You shake your head slowly. "You believe a great many things Miko, and it has gotten you quite far in life. You reside in a position of power in this Gensokyo, many times greater, yet less than what you held in life. I dealt with the Hermit, yes, for she was evil and unrepentant, and I shall see to her servant as well. But I am not a tool to be used by you, I have no desire for politics."
Miko briefly smiles. "Few do. But politics has a way of inserting itself where it is least wanted in a way that few powers in this world can prevent." She shakes her head. "Even at a distance, what I've seen of you - gathering the various powers of Gensokyo and Makai, displacing your sister's temple… The scent of political maneuvering is unmistakable - and unless I greatly mistake my guess, on a far greater scale than the petty religious 'wars' of this place." She then turns towards the rear of her temple, nodding at you to follow her. "Come along then, I'll bring you to Yoshika."
You stare after the woman as she begins to walk, and for one moment, one very brief, noted moment. You debate doing something you might regret. Then, you begin to follow after her.
—
The Jiang-Shi is swaying slightly in the breeze when you see her, her eyes shut as she leans against a fencepost. Miko walks up to her, tapping the tag on the zombie's forehead as she approaches. "Yoshika? There's someone here to see you."
Yoshika takes a long, long moment to respond, before finally opening her eyes. "Huuuuh?" Her eyes lethargically gaze into Miko's, until Miko physically reorients the walking cadaver so that she is facing you.
Miko leans in. "This is Myouren Hijiri. He's here to help you pass on."
You stare at the creature that was once a poet, the woman that was once alive. Now, she was little more than a rotten simulacrum of life. She could feel pain, but could not show it, she could feel cold, but could not warm herself. She was a soul trapped inside a corpse kept 'fresh' via the most foul magic imaginable, and as she stared at you, you stared back, not at the corpse, but at the soul within. "Miyako no Yoshika, are you ready to leave this realm and enter the cycle once more?"
Trapped as it is in squalor and filth, Yoshika's soul cannot comprehend the direct meaning of your words. But the promise of rest and respite, after long centuries being denied such, has a way of piercing through the veils of ignorance and want. Miyako no Yoshika reaches a hand out towards you - not because of your words, but because the spirit can feel in you a conclusion to a verse that should have ended long ago.
The shambling corpse stumbles forwards, almost reaching you… before pausing.
A long moment passes, as she stares vacantly at you, her mind elsewhere. And then she begins to recite. The cadence starts out jerky and uneven, but as she continues to speak, the clarity of the speech only improves. By the end… she's almost singing.
"Flow… flowing …waters
not even… the source is known
river of lonely tears
will the depths be known
at last when it has turned to dust?"
You place your hand gently against her head, her eyes flutter closed. The pain stops, warmth returns. Then, with a single breath, something she hasn't done in centuries. Miyako Yoshika fades away, first the clothes, then the skin, then the sinew and whatever else remains, turning to dust that is carried away by the wind. The garden falls silent then, the only sign Yoshika had ever been there being a faint scent of embalming fluid. You stare at the spot the poet had once stood upon, then then your head ever so slightly to look at Miko.
"You allowed her to exist."
Miko looks at where the jiang-shi once stood. "I did. I tolerated Seiga, and Yoshika was not the worst abuse that woman performed. And yet… I do not think I made a mistake then, just as I do not think I have made a mistake now. What good would it do, to claim remorse and regret for something I would still do again?"
"I do not judge, it is not my position to do so. I reprimand as required, I guide as is my duty. But you are lost Miko, and I cannot aid you. But then, I suppose you never wished for my help in that way to begin with. Even now Buddhism is merely a tool to you, as are your people and your followers." You say, staring at the Lord. "You haven't changed, the only thing is you are less human than you were. But then, that is what you desired, a man who claims the rewards of evil, does not get to state they themselves aren't. One is as evil as those they choose to profit from, there is no good that can come of this. But then, once again." You shake your head. "You no longer truly care, do you?"
Miko closes her eyes. "I've accomplished what I set out to do. As for caring… the world has moved past the need for me. I've little desire to run even this little hamlet of a village, much less return to ruling a kingdom. If there are others who think they can learn from me, I will oblige them." She sighs. "I doubt you will wish to cooperate in the future - but should you decide that the evil I represent is no less tolerable than that of Makai, my doors will remain open."
No. "Do not speak to me of evil, human. You are immortal, it is true. But you are still human. You have escaped death, and the time will come when you pay the price for that. But you are human. You are no different than those in the village, and were it required you would cease to be at this very moment." You say, staring down at the Lord. "Do not presume to understand what the Buddha requires, for you never did to begin with. I have not cooperated with you now, nor will I do so unless necessary, and if that time comes, you will, for the Buddha will brook no argument for the safety of this realm you see fit to remain in. Now, unless there is anything else you require, I shall take my leave. Lest the woman with the plate behind the door sees fit to throw it at my head."
She bows once again - still as shallow as when she greeted you. "Very well - you have my regards."
"They are not needed," you reply.
Then you are gone. Back at the Hakurei shrine, space between spaces, moments between moments. All is a-
"Whoa, boss is mad!" Cirno yelps, backing up and staring at you from where you had nearly appeared atop her.
You stare down at the ice fairy, then with little effort, return to your usual placid expression. "I am fine, Cirno. How is the shrine?"
Cirno blinks up at you, then-
—
[] [There's a spooky ghost that says she knows Byakuren!]
[] [One of the tanuki got into an argument with a fox!]
This is not Ayumu.
[] [There's been a tengu bugging Reimu for an interview!]
[] [I thought too hard about something you said and now I have a really bad headache!]
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