The Afternoon's "Entertainment" (Part 2)

Disaster / Destruction

When Akashi Kengyō departed, he left Maxim and Ikeda Tsuneoki face to face and blade to blade. Invoking his knightly honor, Maxim offered his opponent one last chance to put down his weapons and surrender. Tsuneoki, however, was too wrapped up in his vengeance, pinning all of the injustices he had faced on the Hashinara Clan and refusing to back down. There could be no other outcome. Maxim challenged Tsuneoki to a duel.

The two traded blows, with Maxim proving the more skilled combatant. When they broke, Tsuneoki was laid out on the ground, dropped by the power of Hokkuken. He had received several shallow wounds, but his great warrior's bulk made landing a vital strike all the more difficult. Even at such a disadvantage, he refused to surrender.   Meanwhile, in the southern stands, Haures remained seated and watched the exchange with an expression between anger and annoyance. Two festival dancers approached her, but due to the powerful spell Fubuki had woven around the arena, they were unable to muster the will to attack. With a sudden charge of magic, Haures cast forth a heat wave that consumed one of the dancers, reducing her to a pile of ash and bones with a porcelain mask set atop. Across the way, Hashinara Yoshitakatomo was threading magic of her* own, guiding the hideous Putrid Jikininki away from those their stench could harm; instead corralling them in the center of the arena's flowering floor.   Fubuki herself finished rescuing the last civilian, and dropped in on Maxim and Tsuneoki as they battled. Her* roguish nature did not observe the honor of their duel, and so she* cast a set of chains around Tsuneoki in a last attempt to capture him. Impaired as he was, the big former daimyō managed somehow to throw off most of the bindings. He was left only partially immobilized, one of the slag chains wrapped around his leg. Surely together the two generals could have taken him prisoner, but fate had different ideas for Ikeda Tsuneoki. Having heeded Maxim's call, Kashirin launched from the darkness a bolt of pure destruction. Tsuneoki could not even see the attack coming before it impacted him, tearing apart his body down to the last atom and leaving nothing physical behind. Only the fallen daimyō's soul remained. Both Fubuki and Maxim snatched for it, but the Knight Commander was faster. He absorbed it into the Vase Vitae, crowning that vessel's first acquisition of a soul.   With their leader disintegrated, whatever connection the Festival Dancers had to Akashi Kengyō seemed to snap. They suddenly lowered their weapons and their masks, asking about what had happened and wondering why they were here. Hashinara Yoshitakatomo took it upon herself* to explain. Saddened by Tsuneoki's death, they requested permission to return to Inaba Province in order to grieve and give him a proper burial. Yoshitakatomo agreed, but also stated that she* would escort them there. Fubuki, as well, promised to come along.   That selfsame Fubuki was even then seeing to the wounded and weakened Mōri Motonari. Her afflicted state has seemingly been cured, but had ravaged her body in its wake. She could stand, but still looked wan and emaciated, her skin a much paler shade of blue. Fubuki offered to escort Motonari back to her family. Motonari gracefully accepted. The two walked slowly and deliberately to the halls beneath the arena, Motonari leaning on the other for support as they went. As they traveled, Fubuki's patient asked her* why she* had risked herself* to save the civilians during the disaster. Not knowing the swordswoman's true identity as Matsumoto Ooawagaeri, it seemed strange to her that a scoundrel with no allegiance would act in such a way. Fubuki considered for a moment, then answered simply that her worship of Amatsu-Mikaboshi was enough of a reason. Motonari took this to mean that an agent of chaos could act to righteous, as well as deleterious ends, and seemed to find her answer amusing.   Soon, the two arrived at a larger, more heavier door than the others which lined the sub-arena halls. Motonari detached herself, and thanked Fubuki for her assistance, but hinted that there were protections behind the door which may be dangerous to someone not known to the Mōri Clan. The other merely nodded but, before she* left, produced a tray of dumplings. Famished from the effects of the Jikininki poison, Motonari gratefully accepted. Before they parted, Fubuki asked one final question: Did Motonari know that the spirit of one called Dōhan had taken the body of a young boy? The oni daimyō seemed to put things together quickly. She stated that she had not, but that it fit in with other information that she had. With mutual thanks, the two parted ways.   Topside, Aotsuki Tsukamoto had arrived in response to Yoshitakatomo's summons. He had been interrupted during a meeting with the momentous Saitō Dōsan, and the big man lumbered behind him as he saw to the slain. These poor dancers had not had much hand in their own fate, strung like puppets by their leader's own thirst for revenge. So it was that neither Amaterasu nor Izanagi-no-Mikoto placed any conditions upon their resurrection. The first to return was the charred pile of bones still lying in a heap in front of Haures. As Aotsuki worked his miracle, she stared on with curiosity and an undeniable sense of trepidation.   Haures pried and pried, but Aotsuki let on only the barest of details about his abilities, not speaking a word of Amaterasu or his other heavenly connections. All that the demon received in return for her questions was that Aotsuki's ability was somehow innate, not magical, and that he would use it on anyone if the circumstances were right. Even if they had been killed in the pursuit of vengeance. This instilled in her a thoughtfulness that was almost immediately broken by Maxim's return. Haures immediately went off on the victorious knight, chastising him for letting such a perfect opportunity to end Mōri Motonari slip through his fingers. Only by claiming that he would not be subtle enough to accomplish such a thing and make it look like an accident was Maxim able to subdue the raging lioness. She still urged him, however, to keep the knowledge of his agreement close to his thoughts.   That left Hashinara Yoshitakatomo and, presently, Fubuki in the Mōri box with Kikkawa Motoyo. After dealing with the lost Festival Dancers, Yoshitakatomo was freed up to inexpertly answer some medical questions for the young oni. The little one's concern seemed genuine, and she agreed to let the Hashinara daimyō know should any change come about in Motonari's condition. Fubuki offered once again to escort her below, but Motoyo insisted that she could manage by herself. She only nearly got lost once on the way down.   The sun was all but fully set at this point, and preparations had been made for an important meeting in Owari Castle to determine the fate of the Oda Clan. Aotsuki arrived first, along with Maxim, whose presence had been requested by Abe no Seimei. Yoshitakatomo went too, followed by Fubuki who thought they were going to Inaba Province the whole time. Finally, Ryūzaki Sanosuke made his way there a mite later, resulting in a reunion of the great powers of the Hashinara Clan.