Aiko: Rise of The goddess of War

Chapter Five

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"I don't get it. What's going on?" Aiko asked as she paced around the beach after the man in white robes and his men had disappeared. "Who are they? What is this war? I need to understand."

Theodore sighed. "Thousands of years ago, your father fought for the people of Japan, protected them and gave them hope. He became a god, he was worshiped and the people loved him. He was a treasure to everyone.

"Years went by, Hachiman was recognized as one of the higher kamis that was respected by all the gods of the spirit realm. He was respected as one of the many gods of warriors and war. But there is hate and destruction everywhere you live. During the Order of Peace meeting, where all gods in every realm came together to celebrate, a dark spirit breached the meeting. She came in disguise as she is known to be one of the strongest demons," Theodore said and stared into the distance with hands clenched.

"What happened?"

"Whatever that is discussed in the Order of Peace meeting cannot be heard by an outsider neither should any one who attended tell anyone. It was the first time such thing happened and it was only discovered after the spell casted around the hall showed that a dark spirit had been there. In the meeting, Hachiman-Shin was once again honored and blessed by all clans for his bravery and strength but this dark spirit hated him—Hama-Noshima. She was once a former white kami who had a love for more power and she always had something within her heart for Hachiman."

"So, she's a heartbroken witch?" Aiko said and chuckled. "All of these sound so lame to me. Sounds like something nerds cook up."

Theodore rubbed his nose with his fingers while his hand rested on his hip.

"Aiko, all of these are true. Hama-Noshima is a vengeful spirit. She was recognized as someone strong and passionate for the people until she needed more power. She was almost deemed the goddess of war! She had the death of thousands of warriors from the dark side on her hands. But when she saw that other gods were getting the recognition more than she did. She changed and tried to plant a seed in the minds of every white kami against your father, it didn't work. She was banished and that brought war, because she went to the dark realm and got the reins to try to destroy us!"

Theodore ran his fingers through his hair and exhaled harshly while Aiko stared at her father a few feet away from them.

"So, you're saying that, Hama-Noshima told the secrets, everything confidential to the dark spirits and that gave them a big leverage to attack the white spirits. Making them twice as strong and unpredictable. That started the war? Because one spirit wants power?" Aiko asked and looked into his eyes that held an affirmative answer.

"Yes and she's not going to stop. She's gained too much power. Ever since her banishment, she has never been seen. It is said that she took different forms in the dark realm just to confuse her enemies," he said and walked up to her. "The reason your father is there and hurt was because he was equally thrown out, wounded and bothered by the white spirits. The last war caused a lot of confusion and he had to be sent away to be a mere man. According to them, everything was his fault."

Aiko wrapped her arms around her body and glanced at the man groaning on the ground while the woman quietly washed his wounds. She looked away and stared quietly at her feet. Her mind was filled with the information she had received about her lineage and she was still in shock that she was related to a spirit, it scared her.

"Wait, why are people after me?" Aiko asked in interest.

"I'll get to that part. Let me show you the next part in the story," Theodore replied and flickered his wrist. A white fog rose from her feet to her face then cleared off. They were inside of a small cottage and in front of a table in the kitchen was the woman who had helped her father.

Hachiman walked into the kitchen and placed a kiss on her cheek, and immediately Aiko saw that, she tilted her head to the side.

"A year passed and Hachiman has been hiding in her home as a god without power. They fell in love and that's the only thing that has made him strong and going," Theodore explained and smiled at the couple playing in front of them.

"Instead of him finding a way to stop Hama-Noshima from doing more harm, he settled down? Wow, such a hero. He has something powerful on him and he chose to be with a woman? That's stupid," Aiko retorted as she glared at the giggling couple.

"You are truly your father's daughter. This was his exact same thought when he started having feelings for a human. He had tried all throughout the year to get his powers back, to be full of that strength but he lost hope in himself and decided to follow his emotions. You should not blame him when you are doing the exact same thing by refusing to follow the path set out for you," the man shot at her with a scowl on his face.

Aiko bowed her head in shame after he spoke and nodded.

"Continue, please."

"Thank you," he murmured. "Your father was a happy man, he was ready to forget about his life as a god. He wanted to embrace his curse but things changed," Theodore said and the daylight snuffed out like a large dark cloud was moving outside the cottage.

Aiko moved closer to Theodore and gripped his arm then stared at the expression the couple had—the woman was confused while Hachiman had his brows furrowed with hands clenched.

"She's here," Hachiman said and walked to the window with the woman in tow.

"Who's here?"

"Remember when I told you about Hama-Noshima, the goddess of power and destruction? Remember that she was responsible for my current situation, that she made sure that the white spirits turned against me, she made sure that I was banished and stripped. She's back and has come to stop the prophecy from coming to pass," Hachiman said in a deep voice filled with anger.

"Prophecy? You never told me anything about a prophecy?" The woman backed away and began to pace around the small and dark hued confinement of the makeshift living room.

Hachiman walked towards her, grabbed her by her arms and turned her around till she faced his tall frame. He looked into her blue eyes for a moment before he pulled her into his buff arms.

"I am sorry for what is about to happen but I need you to leave, Mary Anne. You need to run because I do not want anyone to hurt you."

Mary Anne pulled back. "I don't understand what you are saying, Hachiman. Why do I need to run away? I love you and I will not watch you get hurt. We are one and I will not run like a coward after I promised to always protect you."

"Maybe it is time I told you my motive behind my feelings for you," the older man in the room said in a deeper tone.

"Is he trying to tell her that he wasn't actually in love with her?" Aiko asked the man beside her.

"The next thing he says is for her good."

"You are with child, my child and all I wanted was an offspring to avenge my banishment. It is the prophecy given to me. An offspring of mine will take the mantle I lost and destroy those who ruined me. After I was told this, I was given hope and now, I found you. I knew that it would happen," he said with his back to all three of them.

"You used me?" Came Mary Anne's question with a whimper. "You did not love me and you used me for your sick war? I am carrying your child and all you dare say is that our child will be used as a weapon of destruction and hate?! How dare you? How dare you bring a child into this?"

Aiko furrowed her eyebrows as the scene unfolded in front of her. She stepped closer to the woman and saw tears on her pale cheeks. Her nose was red and her pink lips wobbled in pain. Aiko traced the curve of her round face, her straight nose and arched brows then stopped at her blue crystal clear eyes. She felt like she was getting pulled into the depths of her blue eyes, the flecks in them hypnotized her and she felt like she could feel everything she had been feeling that moment.

"Mother?" Aiko whispered and jerked when a loud crash shook the ground.

"Mary-"

"Leave," Mary Anne said through her gritted teeth. "I do not want you here."

Aiko stared at the two of them before she glanced at the window behind Hachiman. Her eyes widened when she saw a fireball coming towards them and before she could scream, the fireball crashed through the window and almost hit the former god. Mary Anne screamed after she had fallen from the impact, whereas Hachiman stood firm.

The roof began to crumble while the dent made by the fireball burnt the area around it. She moved away from the damage and stood beside Theodore who was unusually quiet then stared at the groaning woman on the floorboard.

"Do not touch me!" Mary Anne yelled as she moved away from his helping hand. She stood up and almost fell again when the ground rumbled.

"Leave, Mary. Leave before you die a miserable death. You humans despise me and you claim to understand and help others? You were never anything to me, never. I've gotten what I wanted and you, my dear, are just a pawn in all these," he said with eyes dark.

Mary Anne stared in disbelief at the man in front of her and nodded silently. She scowled and rushed into the kitchen, only to come back with a knife then charged at Hachiman who casually stood aside and grabbed her by the neck and pulled her to his hard chest.

"You will die by my hands, woman. I am warning you for the last time, get out," he growled against her face and pushed her to the floor.

Mary Anne whimpered on the floor and slowly stood up from it. She backed away when Hachiman got close to her and gasped when the door crashed open and three huge men in armour and cloak walked in. Their muscles were huge and face masked in a scowl.

"We finally find the weakest god of all," the one in the center said and flickered his wrist and flames wrapped around them then punched the air and a fireball crashed against the wooden wall after Hachiman dodged.

Aiko and Theodore stood aside as the three men shot fireballs at the couple who ran away and hid in the kitchen.

"You thought you could hide away from Hama-Noshima. Your body will be sent back to her and your rise will end today and so will that of your child and woman," the same man said as he walked around the living room.

Aiko watched in horror as the man raised his hand with a large fireball between his hands. He bent his legs and shot at the exact spot where her parents were hiding behind a wooden wall.

"No!" Aiko screamed and out of reflex she stretched her hands out and a gust of wind moved through the large fireball but did not stop it from crashing into the wall.

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