C h a p t e r 1

† T h e  G i r l  O f  M i s f o r t u n e †

‘Your daughter was fully aware of her duty, wasn’t she? Yet look at what has happened! Now that she has ruined the life of the young human, she has to be punished.’

‘No, please, my daughter…Cherina is still young. She will not repeat this again. I promise you with my dignity!’

‘No, she won’t. She will be punished severely so that she will always remember that no one, I repeat, no one can defy the orders of the universe, even if you are the god of misfortune.’

‘Oh mighty sky god, please, I beg you, spare Cherina…’ the god of misfortune pleaded but to no avail.

‘Cherina shall be banished to the human world. No objections. This is the decision made by the High Council.’

*********************************

In the shrine on Naoyama Mountain, a petite girl with long hair was sitting in front of a shogi set. Her crimson eyes saw nothing; they were blank; there was nothing for her to see, nothing to hold her interest. Not far away, her servant sat by the window, watching while the clouds temporarily clouded the moon that shone that night. The sky was foggy and dark, which was common on this mountain but the servant cocked her head up to observe the skies, a frown upon her face.

‘Miki-sama, it seems like she shall be visiting soon.’

The child-like girl turned to look out the window. The clouds have disappeared out of sight, allowing her to see the full moon hanging overhead in the foggy midnight sky.

‘As the cold wind blows

I wonder with a prayer

If the night is long’

She stopped talking. Her eyes reflected the light of the moon. As she stared, her mind brings her 1500 years back, to the time when she was living like any other.

*********************************

It was a winter night. The snow had just started to fall; melting the instant they touched the roads of Naoyama village. The few youngsters outdoors were being called home and as they ran, death creeped silently into the village.

The young husband was desperately trying to keep his dying wife with him, his arms cradled around a small creature swaddled in thick blankets by the midwife. His eyes were frantic as he called his wife’s name over and over again.

‘Yurie, Yurie…Can you hear me! You’re staying with me, all right! Don’t you die on me!’

Yurie’s gaze touched his face for a moment, then her gaze sought her child. She gave a weak smile when her baby’s surprisingly steady gaze stared back at her.

‘Promise me…’ she rasped in a weak voice. ‘You’ll protect her…you’ll take care of her…promise me…’

Her husband nodded, tears sliding down his cheeks. His heart was pierced by agonies. He saw Yurie smile at him again and at the very next moment, death took her away from her family. Grief washed over his face and silence fell upon the entire village.

Thirteen years later, Miki was playing in the garden, having fun feeding the fluffy yellow chicks that gathered around her. Her father, Toshizo was however momentarily dumbstruck as he stared rather stupidly at the man in front of him. The man sighed, and shook his head.

‘I understand you feel like it’s impossible but trust me, that girl,’ he nodded towards the young Miki. ‘will bring misfortune to not only you, but to the whole village if you do not take precautionary measures. She is a child of misfortune and she’s already brought you pain.’

At that point, Toshizo was reminded of how Yurie breathed her last after their daughter’s birth, the way his daughter’s eyes were crimson and the way how the kids that bullied her for her eyes were all badly injured.
Birth of Miki had also legislate numerous tragedies where the paddy field is unproductive due to over rain or dryness, continuous natural disasters, death of livestocks, where the villagers experience unemployment and poverty . The villagers had called her evil, but to her father, she was just a naughty little girl who needed to be taught from right and wrong. She was.

He turned to look at her and to his horror, he saw the chicks all lying dead around her.
'They did not eat the food that was given.', Miki said with a sulky tone.
The man grabbed Toshizo’s arm and spoke in an urgent tone.

‘I’m telling you, this is my final warning to you. After this, I would be on my way. I might not be able to come back here in time to avert whatever crisis that is to occur. Bear in mind that nobody can stop her if she loses control.’

Toshizo never forgot the man-who claimed that he was a holy magic practitioner-nor did he forget those words. He continued being the father of the girl but fear was growing and sprouting in his heart. He started to notice weird things happening to those around his daughter. One such case was when his nephew was visiting.

His nephew was just like any other kid, sneering and teasing Miki for her crimson irises and her short stature. That day he started calling her a killer because she killed her mother. The other kids with him laughed and picked up that name. Normally, she would have kept quiet and not fight back, due to the fact that Toshizo told her to be nice to her cousin. But that day, she got really angry. Her mind struggled between black and white as she grasped her fist tight. Miki groaned in annoyance and provoked her cousin. Toshizo watched in horror as she tried to strangle the boy. He rushed forward and saved the boy but Miki only glared at him with hate, as if he was betraying her. She then spoke in a low yet icy voice to her cousin.

‘I hope you get run over by a carriage,’ she spat.

Toshizo was absolutely horrified. He demanded she apologize but she didn’t. When he threatened to punish her, she reluctantly obeyed him.

‘Sorry, I hope you won’t get run over by a carriage,’ she muttered. ‘I hope you’ll get stampeded by a herd of cows.’

She was denied dinner that night. The next morning, Toshizo’s tearful sister came weeping, bearing the news that her son was killed in a stampede. Toshizo began to fear his daughter, even going as far as joining the Kō yūrei kyōkai, an association of Onmyoji's,  and begged for them to solve the matter, even if it meant killing her.

The young onmyoji Akako was assigned the job. Toshizo brought her home with him as a guest and while Miki wasn’t looking, the onmyoji drew her paper doll and casted an invisible shikigami. While a shikigami  shares a special link to their masters, which may cause their onmyoji to receive sympathetic injuries dealt to the shikigami, Akako is badly wounded. She tried to manipulate the shikigami to perform possession on Miki, but due to enormous amount of energy needed to maintain shikigami, she fainted as a sign of losing her energy. The onmyoji failed, eventually.

Toshizo waited in the corridor, waiting for Akako to tell him it was over. But instead, she never came out. Uneasy, he returned to the room and saw the onmyoji  slumped against the wall, her eyes glassy, and her skin chalk white. She had been turned into a zombie. Miki sat in a corner, blood running down her face from a wound on her head. She looked at her father, with a weak smile.

‘Why?’ she asked, her lips trembling. ‘Why would you do this to me…’

Toshizo ran away. He ran to the association, informing them of the monster Akako has become. Enraged, the association held a massacre. However, they found her waiting for them. Her head injury was still fresh but she stood there as if nothing happened. She smirked when she saw Toshizo among the omniyoujis.

‘My own father,’ she said. ‘Why, papa? Why did you not keep your promise to mama?’

‘You…you know about it?’ Toshizo’s voice shook. The promise was made on the night she was born, how could have she known it?

‘I heard it,’ she said simply. ‘I’m different from the rest. Please don’t put me together with those people. I can make things happen if I want them to, make the people I hate suffer if I wish. If only you believed in me, I would have protected you as well, my dearest beloved papa. But instead-- You disappoint me. And I'm disgusted of you. I despise you from the very end of my heart.’

She was far stronger than the rest of them. It was going to be a tough battle, and the onmyojis knew it. Yet they wouldn’t back away because their fire of vengeance for Akako’s sake was burning in their hearts. Miki’s smile widened, almost as if she knew what they were thinking. She cocked her head back and called out a name that shattered their rational judgment.

‘Akako.’

Akako came out from the house, bowing in front of Miki with utmost respect, like she acknowledged Miki as a superior.

‘Miki-sama,’ Akako said.

‘Akako! What are you doing?’ shouted one of the onmyoujis.

‘I’m greeting my master,’ replied Akako. ‘Without her, I shall become ashes in no time. But if I stay by her side a loyal servant, I can go on surviving. So as you see, I’m much stronger than any of you now, because I have the chance of unlocking my hidden abilities through near-death. For old time’s sake, I suggest you stop what you’re doing or be prepared to meet your demise.’

The omniyoujis made a mad dash towards Miki. Akako placed herself between them and Miki, acting as Miki’s shield. As they fought Akako, who was protecting Miki, Miki had disappeared from where she stood. Toshizo took trembling steps backwards while his heart thumped loudly with fear. Somehow, he had a bad feeling about that, and he wanted to get out of there.

Suddenly, he couldn’t move. He stood rooted to the spot as if something was binding him. He was stunned. A girl’s voice came from behind him, half-mocking and half-lonely.

‘Papa, do you know how it feels to be betrayed by someone you thought you could trust? How it feels when your own parent wanted you dead? Or-- How it feels, when you were slandered and isolated?’

He trembled from head to toe. He had never been so frightened in his life. Her fingers moved across his throat, her nails grazing his skin. Then a sharp pain was felt from where her fingers touched, and he started to choke. He fell to the ground, blood spurting from his mouth. For a moment, there was a complete silence, broken only by drip of blood. Tip, tap, tip, tap, it sang, The ground was tainted maroon. His mind flew to Yurie, and he yearned to go to her. Toshizo died choking on his own blood, while his daughter stood over him with a disgusted expression.

‘It feels like this,’ she said. ‘Even to the very end, you never thought about me. So be it. Those who caused me pain in the past shall all pay back with their lives!’

After that declaration, the full moon turned blood red, like the night of her birth thirteen years ago. The wind picked up, blowing her hair like a halo around her. Even though winter was still far away, snow started to fall, like tears, where the sky lamented over her sins. The villagers tried to run but she was faster. With Akako, who had fought brilliantly to protect her master, she went for the kill.

‘Enough,’ called a man.

It was the holy magic practitioner. He stood near the forest bordering the village, watching Miki with cold eyes. He knew he had to complete the job if there was one, and it was his job to get rid of threats to humans, including the girl standing there in front of him.

Miki glowered. She had already destroyed half the village and killed numerous people, especially those who took part in mistreating her. The white snow-covered ground was stained red by the blood flowing out of deep fatal wounds she and Akako had inflicted upon the dead. The whole scene was red.

Miki sensed that he was a dangerous figure to her, so she momentarily abandoned her killing spree and turned her attention towards the practitioner. The practitioner skillfully danced out of her reach while she got more and more frustrated with each failed attempt. He retreated into the forest, being careful to remain in the girl’s line of sight. She chased him into to forest and up the mountain, her fury accumulating with each ascending path. Akako ran after them, but he was too far away for her to assist Miki, so she just followed.

He stopped in the compound of an old abandoned Shinto shrine. Miki felt murderous-she wanted to kill him for playing around with her. He cast a spell to bind her and Akako together in the compound and he then created a barrier around the peak of the mountain. Miki watched him with fury and hatred as she struggled to free herself.

‘I’ll kill you!’ she snarled.

‘Feel free to try,’ replied the practitioner. ‘This barrier prevents you from ever escaping from this place. Humans will not be able to enter and you can never go outside this shrine. The same applies to Miss Zombie over there. There is no other method to break the spell except to spill my magical blood on the grounds.’

He headed down the mountain, leaving the shrine behind him. Miki banged against the invisible wall that trapped her after her binds vanished but nothing she did ever made any difference to it. Realising that she can no longer be free, she became extremely upset. She let out a ringing wail of despair that traveled down all the way to the scene of her murders.

*********************************

It was 1500 years ago. Since then, Takanashi Miki has not aged a bit. She still looked the same and was trapped in the shrine still. Akako remained her loyal servant, and they had almost no visitors except certain creatures that wandered in. Those creatures either survived or got themselves killed depending on the mood of the ‘shrine maiden’.

The fire of vengeance still burned in her heart. She wanted nothing else except to see the practitioner’s blood spilled on the grounds of the shrine. However, she also wanted to complete the life cycle as Takanashi Miki and return to Heaven as Cherina, daughter of the god of misfortune, because it was the rule that no banished god or deity can return to Heaven unless they lived a complete life cycle as a human.

The wind rang the golden bells in the courtyard of the shrine. Miki listened to it intently and stared at the sky again.

‘It’s going to rain soon,’ she said quietly. ‘She’d better come quickly or she wouldn’t like it.’

Thunder sounded and at a distance, lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating the top of the leafy canopy of the forest. The leaves swayed and emitted a rustling sound, breaking the silence from before. And in the light of the moon, a moving shadow was moving closer to the shrine.