Tripura Bhairavi, Bright fairy princess

Their civilizations were at the brink of war, Brighid was one of the main pieces on said war, so was Rudra. They were enemies in many regards but they had decided long ago to remain friends at the personal level, they were born into their species for a reason and so they had a duty to ensure the best for each, there was nothing personal on their actions against each other. Brighid had promised to kill the Indra though Rudra would have done the same if placed in her situation, he often asked her for council, fully knowing her advice would affect her negatively she gave it honestly, so did Rudra. After all Rudra saw much of him in the fairy, more than what he saw in the other Mahavidya.

Brighid scared of death for the first time in her life asked Rudra for advice. Rudra the dark-skinned Deva, the pelts covering his body did not hide the fact that it was well toned and athletic. The strongest of the Mahavidyas, he had skill with fire that rivaled that of the Indra but his ability with wind was better than anyone, he could even summon wind in space, using dust as medium, his physical strength and skill in combat made him a great warrior, something he taught Brighid and in turn she taught to Amaterasu. He did not teach how to fight but how to develop your own form of fighting.

Seeing Brighid in fear was uncharacteristic, the woman named “Bhairavi” or the terror by Krishna, Rudra did not even doubt her capacity to dispose of the Indra, he knew she had not done it because without him the Suryan army would attack and they weren’t prepared for it. Rudra knew that whatever troubled Brighid he could help, if anyone could, it would be him.

“What troubles you sister?” Rudra said while she sat to rest on a rock.

“I am married to a man who takes pleasure in killing his wives. They made me vow to not harm him”

Rudra smiled “Is that everything? Remember that you are not a fairy with the power to destroy, we are not forces of nature but nature itself. Our magic is different from other Deva in that we do not absorb mana from the universe from our chakra, our chakras feed the universe”

“Yet my body is a vessel that can be broken” Brighid said, she had heard this before, she had even tested it and it was true, others could do cast stronger spells if she was around, they would be even stronger if they were in good terms with her. Derg usually could only cast minor illusions, though when she was around he could make it seem as if the illusion was real, if she were actively trying to help him the illusion did turn real.

“So is his, you promised not to harm his body, what about changing it?” Rudra laughed “They always forget something in those contracts”

Brighid remained silent for a moment, she then began to smile “Thank you brother” she then stood up and left.

It was not long after their marriage when Bres, her husband, did try to harm her. She was sleeping, he had tried to cut her throat, he even succeeded at it though he failed at actually taking her life. She woke up while her magic passively healed her wound, there was a wide smile on her face.

“I think you had suffered a great deal when a child for you to treat your loved ones this way” Brighid said “You could not have a childhood so here is my gift to you” she came closer while Bres shook in fear, he stumbled against the wall and closed his eyes, all while Brighid leaned forward and gave him a kiss.

He knew the kiss wasn’t it, the transition was not painful, not physically, he saw how his clothes began to grow along with everything else. He looked at the knife, too large for him to handle. Bres had become a child, though his expression became that of despair when Brighid spoke again “Eternal youth and eternal life!”

He was trapped in a child body, unable to harm anyone, even if he tried he couldn’t try to subdue Brighid any more than the wind subdues the grass. Bres took the knife and ran it through his throat, he though woke up a few minutes later alive, unharmed.

“That is not a gift! This is a curse!”

Brighid patted him on the head “Dear husband it is a gift, you will need time to appreciate it though”

When word came out of what Brighid had done the court slowly began to include her more and ignore her husband not out of respect but out of fear, none of them had any idea she could do something like that, before she had only used her spear and her ability which was already intimidating, though now they learned something else, her magic was powerful. Bres was not a simple prince, he was a powerful fairy whose magic could even control life, though to Brighid he was just a toy.

Elatha did not fear her though, he was the king of the Fomorians, Elatha found his son to have twisted ways and blamed himself for his atrocities. When he saw his son trapped, he thanked his new daughter, she had given him a punishment that to many would be a beautiful blessing, many complain about the pains of adulthood something Bres would not have to deal with anymore. So thankful he was that he promised a favor to Brighid, fully knowing what she would ask for, it was then when the Fomorians officially reunited with the Tuatha de Dannan. When they became an unified force that to the surprise of many lend their forces to work for the Deva.

Pork tomatillo stew

Yeah yeah this isn’t touhou related… But know what? This is my website and I think you will all like this recipe. It’s fairly common to find this with a few variations in Hidalgo Mexico, usually served with beans and tortillas (corn).

So we begin with a kilo of tomatillo (the smaller the better), half a kilo of pork, 7 nopales (maybe more or less depending on size, mine were medium, about the size of my hand). So here we have the ingredients.

Here we remember we have to drink water, add half a pineapple you have in the fridge because why not. Yeah this wasn’t in the plan but it’s how cooking often turns out, you make one thing and end up making two.

Some frozen strawberries. Look at the beautiful assemble

Okay we overcrowded the blender… So we divide it into two to blend.

Okay finally blended! Now to add honey, sugar and of course more water (this is for 4 liters)

Okay the shot is done (that glass is for mom) now to serve myself with a less pretty but more sturdy glass since I’ll be in the kitchen dancing around.

So now we cut the nopales, for those who had never minced a nopal before don’t worry. You make parallel cuts but DO NOT CUT THE EDGE, nopales are slippery and gooey, you are welcome to not listen to my advice but believe me you’ll regret it.

Put them in a pressure cooker with just enough water to cover them

Just a nice shot of my water container, nice talavera

Now to mince the pork (it was in the white container) since it was still a little frozen I needed to bring in the big knife. It can be any cut you want, quite literally I went to the butcher shop and asked for a hunk of pork meat, froze it until I needed it, at first I wanted to make pork gorditas but with nopales is way healthier and tastier (also takes 4 more hours to make, don’t worry most of it is waiting time).

Of course it can cut it, bought the cheapest cleaver I could find on amazon, used a wetstone to sharpen it, not my best knife but it’s great for what it is. I use it mostly to cut large vegetables, on friday I used it to make pumpkin candy it was perfect for cutting a large castilla pumpkin.

Now we get a pot searing hot (left a small piece of pork as tester)

Once the oil is ripping hot put the rest of the pork and let it brown a little

While the meat browns it’s time to cool off the pressure cooker (you can let it cool off on its own) a neat trick is to put it under cold water so the pressure drops. The indicator valve has to drop down, a pressure cooker is at supercritical conditions if you want to know what supercritical water steam is like check a video on youtube, don’t try this at home because that’s how you end up in Chubbyemu videos.

As a small parenthesis, critical conditions is the point at which a fluid and its steam have the same density, meaning that there are water droplets floating freely in the mix. Supercritical means you are beyond those conditions, open the pressure cooker or take off the security valve and the water droplets of literally boiling water are going to get out at a high pressure (duh) and if you are lucky leave your kitchen in a very dirty state. Pressure cookers are a beautiful thing but please be very careful when using them

While we still wait for the pork to brown (hey it was frozen it will take a long time) put the tomatillos in a comal (cast iron grill very normally used in Mexican cuisine) or in that ugly pan or pot you don’t care about. We will let them roast, usually people do not use tongs or tools of any kind to flip things in a comal, I recommend you use something, to learn that ability is something that requires years of practice… and a lot of ointment.

Okay finally our pork has browned! Don’t mind if there is little fond, you will get more soon. This is a stew and the meat has to be so tender you can break it with your tongue

Well to get that tenderness we will need to boil the meat in a lot of water, for this, about a kilo of pork I used 2 cups of water, add enough water to cover your meat, then add another cup for good measure.

Now we wait… During that wait we flip our roasted tomatillos, once the color of the skin that isn’t burned turns a darker shade of brown they are ready, note not all will be ready at the same time so it’s a slow process of turning and waiting, you can take a shortcut and just boil them but honestly the roast gives the stew a nice smoky flavor.

Once the tomatillos are roasted we add the secret ingredient! It’s not really a secret, since this is a very typical dish in the area of Hidalgo my family is from. It’s called Rallado, a chile that only grows in a far away town called Progreso, you grow it anywhere else the taste is off and it doesn’t taste as spicy. As a note to those who manage to get a hold of it, it’s way spicier than a chipotle, add them to your sauce one by one and taste it. If you don’t have access to this small chile you can use dried chipotles (canned is fine too) and roast them (yeah you cannot roast the canned ones sadly). Roast them lightly, believe me you will know when they are ready, after all you are roasting chiles, actually it’s a common flu remedy here too not a punishment like they said in the Mendoza Codex (maybe it was but now the chancla is the punishment, burning chiles is a flu remedy).

Now everything is done… Well everything but the meat, well we wait for it to boil off all the water

And wait… Oh wait I forgot to blend the chiles and tomatillo!

Now that everything is done we go back to waiting

Okay that will take a long time… May as well get myself comfortable (British friends please forgive me but good gin is is very expensive here)

Let’s see… Nope okay back to waiting

And waiting

And waiting

Oh hey look if I wait for long enough my phone will realize this is Mexican themed and put that annoying yellow filter on my glass! Well here is proof, Mexico isn’t sepia it’s technology.

Almooost

Okay now it’s ready!

After the meat has properly cooked, now we add the salsa and our cooked nopales. Do not add raw nopales, they will let the goo out inside your stew and make the sauce gooey.

For spices you add marjoram, pepper, oregano and cumin, about half a teaspoon of each maybe even a cube of bouillon in there. Salt it until the very end when the thing is almost ready. Right besides it is the candied pumpkin.

Let this on high heat until it boils, then lower it to let it simmer with the lid for 3-4 hours. Everything up until the simmer is done with high heat.

If you feel like cooking this but want to vary it a little feel free to comment, I’ll gladly help

Food porn

Oddly enough I do not like to take pictures of food, though I do love to cook. I learned very little, mom was working all day long and grandma’s bones did not allow her to do much during the day, so cooking was something I had to learn, it could had been just a couple eggs and that would be it, though I preferred to do a stir fry, which grandma still loves to this day, and serve the meal.

Then came high school, it was abroad so it was either eating whatever was served in the cafeteria or up my cooking game, there I learned how to bake, how to boil because until now I was used to stir fry, a man a pot and I was happy, there I learned other things. College was a vacation for my cooking, though work soon brought back the need to prepare food.

My first work was selling wood, it was not the best salary and it was stressful, so I took cooking again, it was not only helping me save, it was helping me remain sane. All my skills now were honed into a single goal, relaxation.

Cooking is not that different from love, you do it only for people you care for in a certain degree, to nourish those near you. Though it is also there to please, to brag, to show off and of course to earn money. It has some degree of lust, of pride not only gluttony. I don’t take pictures because I don’t cook for the camera, I cook for myself, for my family and for people I care, even in that regard I am as prudish as I am in bed. After all what are Chefs but Porn Stars for their own particular type of porn?

Opera

Chandra was approaching the main halls of Indra, his brother, the Suryan Emperor, the rooms slowly became larger, he doors heavier coated in gold and precious stones all embroidered with imagery regarding the feats of the Manu Dynasty including those of Indra. Even for a Deva walking down that path made anyone feel smaller, automatic locks opened at his path greeting him by name each turn.

Indra was sitting on a rug drinking a masala of tea, sweetmeats besides the pile of scrolls and crystals he had to go through. Chandra came in, Indra offered him a seat, but he did not take it instead he just handed a couple of scrolls.

Indra sighed already expecting the bad news, though what he saw in the new scroll was surprising, earth, a small poorly guarded colony still stood. He had to read it again just to be certain. It was true, the Deva at earth had managed to hold the Ashura forces for longer than expected, they were not even asking for reinforcements but for permission to begin an invasion on the nearing world of Diyu, a world that had belonged to the Ashura for long.

Earth did not even have a true Deva there, just servants who were sent as bait, the Deva expected the Ashura to pour everything into that small planet, then try to invade to meet an ambush.

Ashura though were stopping their attacks on Earth, the small planet had proven too hard to conquer. Prahlada found no use in attacking a well-guarded planet, Indra was visibly angry at the idea, Chandra nodded at his brother’s disbelief. He handed the scroll back “Order them to attack, hopefully they will decimate their own forces”

Chandra sighed and returned, he knew this would happen, Indra’s plan was never very good to begin with. After all the servants who were sent to earth were servants because they were born in that caste, engineered creatures made to serve the whims of the gods, the ones who were sent to earth were rebellious in nature, earth was a punishment for those servants who had thought of themselves greater than their masters. Indra had made a mistake by sending them to war, they had such inflated egos because of their own skill.

Indra was well aware of what the oracles told him, but it wouldn’t be the first time he did not follow a prophecy, the wood people, the fairies were supposed to be the next race to rule the worlds, then the corn people, the second batch of servants they created, though they only brought war onto the Deva which they managed to fend off. Now the prophecies had changed, maybe if it was someone else they wouldn’t be capable of changing fate the same way he did, now the prophecies spoke of a new world, one ruled not by wood people or corn people, but of them both. Wood people thought themselves as gods, corn people were fanatics, together they could bring an equilibrium, finally be the race that inherits the universe once this Kalpa ends.

He remembered his own personal servant, his odd customs, his spells and curses, he now called himself king of the fairies and claimed his child was an avatar much comparable to him. Indra paid too little attention to this, even if the child was powerful, fairies were not that powerful to begin with. Even if the oracles told him to beware the fairies. This meant trickery, it had to mean trickery, to avoid this issue he would have to fight them head on, kill the fairy fated to kill him with his own hands. They were hard to kill but iron was their bane, poisonous to them and iron burns did not heal.

For this specifically he developed a spell, using his glow to turn the oxygen into iron, that would be more than enough to destroy any fairy, he would had been right, though he thought of himself as untouchable, after all he was an avatar of Vishnu, he was unbeatable an avatar of Shiva, if his old servant was right, would not be match for him, though he couldn’t be more wrong.

Lady Brighid soon began to gain more fame and influence, to the point where he saw his own court fall into hedonism and depend on her and her gifts. Indra tried to buy them back but her gifts held them with an iron grasp. Then came his fortune, fairies introduced a substance called sugar into the market, it stopped hunger, it tasted good, it made you energetic. Indra could not find proof it was them but their signature was in its craft. Then came the Kshir Sagar massacre of which only fairies and tengu survived, and now tengu were siding with fairies who in battle found a way to spare them.

The howling did not let him sleep one bit that night, so he decided to leave for Krishna’s planet, the Lotus flower, a place where even servants lived lavish lives but he didn’t care, he just wanted to rest.

There Lady Brighid was waiting for him, Krishna had invited her so peace could be reached, the war of the Ashura had been won, but now the fairies were at war with the Deva. Indra glared at Krishna, another avatar of Vishnu like himself, but now he understood this man was also a traitor and proceeded to kill him with his sword. Krishna did not even flinch, he accepted death as an old friend, though Brighid wouldn’t be so easy, she had promised to dip her blade in his blood.

Indra begun with his iron attack, he saw how Brighid’s skin began to fall off her body, trying to regenerate but failing given the continuous flow of it. She though didn’t let the pain slow her down, she held her sword, made with Indra’s own glow and proceeded to counter. Her strength was easy to overcome, though she had tricks, tricks that allowed her to disappear in thin air and attack from the shadows, tricks that allowed her to divide herself in many, tricks that made her glow like the Indra, a protective glow she could use against him.

The battle was vicious and it lasted for weeks, at the end of the seventh week, Indra was already spent, though he imagined Brighid was about the same, after all she had been withstanding his continuous attacks for days.

Brighid though waited for him to sit and rest, she got up, and cleaned herself. With an uncharacteristically fast move she darted towards Indra, he felt the pain before he noticed what had happened, he was beginning to take a nap just a few seconds, then he felt it, or rather didn’t, he hadn’t let go of his sword, so the fight was not over yet, he could not let go or else it would mean he yielded.

Brighid waited for him to pick his sword with his left arm then proceeded to continue, this time with more strength than what they had begun with, now Indra could see what had happened, Brighid was going easy on him, playing like a cat does with the mouse, until the mouse feels tired then the cat will really try to eat it. Indra thought she was holding him back, but in fact she was just stalling, waiting for this very moment in which he had fallen too tired then truly begin.

Indra tried to use his own glow again but Brighid laughed as her skin finally peeled off, he finally saw what was it, after all she had raised Amaterasu, she had been around her for very long thus she had adapted, Indra actually forgot this aspect of fairies, they were made to adapt, to evolve to their environment and this one had adapted to the environment he made. Brighid never recovered from the injury her skin sustained, this feat gave her the name Xipe Totec by some fairy tribes the skinned lady. Deva began to pay her respects by giving up the skin of people who willingly hoisted themselves at the idea of sacrifice. Indra, the tyrant, the Emperor of the stars appointed by birthright had been killed by the smallest of the destroyers, the one who could had never hoped to kill the Indra with her sheer strength but did it with patience.

Though the great curse, the curse Krishna had placed upon Brighid was still there, lingering, she thought of it as the lack of skin, though ignored this would had happened either way, the curse would hurt her more than the Indra ever could.

Skye catholic bane

Remilia was now in Pakistan, a troublesome place but there she was not a politician, she was just a merchant with a nice home in the outskirts of Islamabad, maybe being a catholic-ish would affect but she made sure to give a hefty amount of money to the local mosque every year. The moment they threaten her the moment she would simply pack up her bags and move somewhere else. She bought opium directly to the farmers, since she was the main provider to Sicilia, she had been for about a 100 years now, and thus she paid the best prices for opium in the entire area.

No other merchant gave money to the mosques like Remilia did, which also added the sympathy of the farmers not only their favor for money. They sold their crops to Remilia to be able to see their temples grow and thrive. Remilia knew that if she left someone would come and take her place, though she had been there for years, it was ingrained within the people that Remilia VI Scarlet was not a catholic, she was no Muslim either but she gave good money to the mosques.

It was around that time where the Portuguese tried to buy the opium off from Remilia in Italy. She had known that they wanted to sell it to the Chinese though she would not let that happen, she held the monopoly and if someone would trade with China she would be the first. So the Portuguese knew, and they knew that Remilia VI was in fact the same Remilia the Sicilians dealt with more than a hundred years ago.

They managed to get the Vatican into it the pope was aware of Remilia’s nature too, but her business provided them with good assets, now the Portuguese were willing to put their necks in line for a better profit for themselves than what Remilia amassed, she had no use on high profits, she could amass a great fortune with small profits over her very long life.

Remilia though paid no attention to this, anyway she shouldn’t worry, her fate was sealed to survive, she didn’t need to manipulate it, she just knew it did. Even when the assassin was at her room, preparing her silver knife Remilia was calm.

She stared at the nun who was sent to kill her, an odd resolve on her eyes now broken when seeing that the big smugger is nothing more than a little girl. Remilia yawned and smiled at her potential killer.

“Did you become a person of god to kill children?” Remilia said “I may smuggle substances, but I don’t send people to kill children because they are in my way”

It was then when Remilia changed the fate of said nun to instead of running away and live a life of hiding to join her and be her friend.

The maid, Skye, was born and raised in Scotland, she joined the catholic church at a young age due to her natural talent, odd magic that allowed her to control how she perceived time. She was trained by the Catholics to be an assassin, she did not say anything else, no family, no connections to her former country. All she had was the church and now Remilia.

Skye though was not a maid like the others, she did not die from Flandre’s games, quite the opposite she considered the games quite fun. Her ability allowed her to dodge Flandre when she would use something stronger on her. This allowed Remilia to seek for a new state in China, she already had the farmers on her side, she had to make new connections there.

They arrived in Hong Kong in the year 1670, Remilia still kept her state in Pakistan though now she only kept it for storage, she begun with her usual imports of 2.6tonnes per month having most of the trade of Opium in the Chinese market.

She expended her time as usual in the tea houses and begun donating to the local temples, though it did not take even a month for an assassin to go for her. She was wide awake reading in her study when a shadow crept up to her. She turned around as fast as she could, the figure was not Skye nor Flandre, this was a local man, he was wearing a uniform meaning that he was an employee, though the knife on his hand was not something she expected.

Remilia grabbed the knife while the man was still in the air, his blade slowly reaching to her, though she didn’t expect the man’s fist to suddenly accelerate the moment she touched him. She received the hit on the stomach, even her vampiric strength did not help her resist the blow, it was like his hands were made out of stone.

Remilia coughed and tried to flee, she wasn’t fated to die there but she didn’t feel like pushing her luck. The man suddenly fell to the ground, though he didn’t scream, he just lost control of his legs, Skye came up to Remilia and helped her up rushing out of the room, while Flandre began to laugh and approached the man, that is when he actually screamed, his pain muffled by the bubbling of blood into his throat, then nothing.

Interview with the shrine maiden of paradise

Aya: Uhm… Nobody has ever accepted an interview…

Reimu: I mean. Let’s be honest here. You would have forced the interview on me. I decided to take the initiative.

Aya: Well thank you for accepting! Tell me how did your family begin hunting youkai?

Reimu

Reimu: To be honest, I don’t have much of a clue. This would probably be a more appropriate question for the Hieda clan if you want an answer. All I know for certain is that the Hakurei shrine maiden has been hunting youkai since the boundary was created.

Aya: It was even before from what I can remember but you weren’t the only ones just the best. Do you think the Hakurei Orb influenced that?

Reimu: I don’t really call it the Hakurei Orb, just Yin-Yang Orb or the Orb for short. But I guess you call it that since it’s the Hakurei deity’s vessel… I have no idea how to answer your question. If I knew the deity of our clan I would be better informed. Your theory makes a lot of sense.

Aya: There had always been more youkai hunters. You are the only one who does it regardless of who is it. Don’t you feel scared?

Reimu: Well that’s a bit personal don’t you think? Well I guess a little bit, but it comes with the job. The fear never goes away completely but it’s a lot more of a casual stroll than something to stress out about if that makes sense.

Aya: I understand your fear I am a youkai and sometimes I get scared. Do you somehow feel safer with the spell card rules?

Reimu: The spell card rules are based around fair play. Humans and youkai require each other to survive but if strong youkai eat everything in sight, youkai will die off before long. So the spellcard was invented to equalize the playing field for both humankind and weaker youkai. It’s a survival tool for Gensokyo’s sake not just humans.

Aya: Yeah even though some wouldn’t admit it, humans are needed. Do you think this secret relationships would be better if they were official?

Reimu: Probably not. Youkai can’t even get along with themselves. If youkai and humans lived openly among each other without exception, youkai would become soft and lose purpose while humans would have no sanctuary to call home. It wouldn’t benefit anyone really, but that’s just what I imagine.

Aya: I have to admit you are right… Does your family have a history with the wars before the great unification? Or you were always neutral?

Reimu: I told you, I don’t know anything about my family before the border was created. I can only say we were on humanity’s side after the border was created, by necessity.

Aya: I mean you have youkai alliances that go back from even before the border… I am getting out of track. So you don’t care about the past, you just care about people?

Reimu: If you want to call it that, sure. I care about people in general.

Aya: So your family has chosen the path of Mercy. Is your deity a Bodhisattva? Or are tengu right and it is Amaterasu?

Reimu: I don’t know who my deity is, but I doubt it’s a prominent one like Amaterasu. I am a shrine maiden not the Japanese emperor. No, I’m sure whoever they are, they are probably a hidden deity like Okina. I guess

Aya: Or maybe it is major in a different culture. Who knows really. Have you tried to reach for your deity? Does it like a heretic like Marisa?

Reimu: You can’t really be a heretic to a deity you don’t even know that well. And of course I have tried! No one’s been able to have a meaningful conversation with them yet!

Aya: Getting black out drunk is not meditating Reimu. Maybe ask Hijiri or Kasen? Have you asked Kasen? I mean seriously why does a youkai know about the Hakurei shrine so much?!

Reimu: Then interview her! Stop wasting my time with questions I already told you I don’t know, birdbrain!!!

Aya: I tried and she didn’t let me. Now tell me why don’t youkai just eat you?

Reimu: Because I let them and it scares them away. Why do you think?! I maintain the shrine that keeps everyone alive. No one is going to eat me. I even helped made the spell cards so they wouldn’t have to resort to doing it!

Aya: There are youkai who are mad… Let’s say why does Yuuka refrain herself from feasting on your flesh, she certainly doesn’t care about humans

Reimu: I have no idea. Maybe she doesn’t want the Human Village to die out? She scares a lot of people who venture outside the Village so it’s not really in her best interest to eat them all. But I hardly talk to Yuuka these days. You should ask her if you ever feel emboldened.

Aya: I’d rather stick my foot in a beehive… Why does Yukari like you so much?

Reimu: You think she likes me? I guess a little bit. She shows up to hang out more often than she does for most humans, but really it’s not different than how she spends a lot of time doing business with the Kourin guy. It’s probably nothing.

Aya: People who should hate you love you… Marisa out of all people was sent to kill you. What’s up with that?

Reimu: I am just as confused as you are. Everyone who tried to beat me up ends up having a tea party with me in the end. I am told by Human Villages this is not normal behavior.

Aya: Yeah usually it ends up in a total war and people losing limbs or cursing each other. Do you think you have a luck blessing?

Reimu: I think it’s possible. I have been told I have a sixth sense for these things or… something.

Aya: Without training? Wasn’t your mom the woman who never flushed the toilet, she scared the shit out of it?

Reimu: We use a pit latrine. Is this even news anymore?

Aya: Wait you do? How primitive, do you still use flints to start fires?!

Reimu: I use kerosine and kerosine accessories. This interview’s going in some odd directions.

Aya: Fossil fuels? Not even biodiesel?! Unga bunga!

Reimu: Unga bugga off, stupid crow

Aya: You are still in the fossil fuel age! Not even induction cooking I was just making a joke hahahahaha!!!!

Reimu: Yeah. Good one. Why did I agree to this interview… I regret it already.

Aya: Do you even know what microwave heating is? Oh wow… humans being this backwards is so… HAHAHAHAHA! OH GODS MY SIDES!

Reimu: Just stop the interview before I [redacted] your [redacted] neck for [redacted] days on end until you cry out for mercy, begging for complete extermination!

Aya: Oh so barbaric! Just like a wild animal

Reimu: Why you little [redacted]—-! Aaaaaggh!!! Come here! Let me [redacted] you until you scream, little bird!!]

Prologue: I woke up 3 days later in Eientei, thankfully my notes were still with me, so the interview could be retrieved. Reimu indeed made me scream.

Third fairy king

The two weeks in between negotiations they had expended looking for other groups willing to do business with them. For some even sugar wasn’t enough though opium was a secret they wanted to keep. Amaterasu did not like the idea of introducing such a substance, but she knew the fairies would need it and use it to their advantage eventually. It was surprising how such a physically weak species had adopted such a ruthless code of conduct.

Fairies had become that way to survive, their planet was nothing but a ball of fire when they arrived. They though adapted, their strongest members being the only ones who survived, forced into such a planet had made them evolve much faster and even learn how to tweak their evolution. Tiangou, garuda and even the rarer lion dogs would be widely respected by fairies, even though their morals were different they both respected strength. Amaterasu though had not been raised in any of those cultures, she had learned of them and Brighid had tried to teach her those values the best she could, but in the end she was raised in a fairy culture and thus understood better the fairy moral code. It was simple, fairies respected karma though they often went overboard with how they did it.

The smugglers who tried to steal for them was murdered then used as a puppet, the one who accepted their terms was made rich beyond his imagination, Brighid had even blessed him, that man would become even richer in the future. Those who are against you should be dealt with great force so that they do not dare to bother you again, those who aide you will be paid for tenfold so that they remain friends. It was something not many understood, often people thought of fairies as unpredictable creatures who could very well grant you a favor or make your life a living hell.

After their return they found the Bru na Boine in utter chaos, Fomorian spies had attacked, that happened usually though this time the Deva had aided them in their war, mercenaries clad in iron had led the assault. Dagda had died leaving his wife Boann in the throne as regent, she had found a way to stop the attack through negotiation though some fairies wanted to fight.

Derg was the oldest but he knew that Dagda would have chosen Brighid as successor, it was not something that bothered him. Boann though wanted her son to rule, not the bastard monster. Boann stopped the Fomorian attack because the conditions for the deal were too good to be true, they knew that the moment the sugar metals arrived the fairies would be very well armed to take revenge, though Boann appeased to them.

Fomorians, the fairies of Teya, a planet ruled by Krishna life was easy for them, the Coya fairies, the Tuatha de Dannan had fooled them into joining to become a unified force, a single government which would place them as equals with the Deva. Fomorians had an easy life in Teya though they were still servants, they did not expect the Deva to send them to that living hell. Tuatha de Dannan now were provoking the anger of the Deva again, now that their life had become better, they were still reveling, thus the war began.

Boann had promised Fomorians to follow their stance on Deva politics, she had also promised to marry one of the princesses to a Fomorian prince so that they would unite again. This meant Brighid was now in an arranged marriage, she was the only woman old enough to do so. Even married she would not allow a Fomorian onto the throne, this was what the Fomorians expected, to have a prince marry Brighid and her to inherit the throne so a Fomorian would rule both.

Boanne knew Brighid and she knew Brighid would abdicate her right and leave it to Derg, then she would marry. When this decision was known the Fomorians were angry, though they could do nothing because the treaty was already signed. So, they decided to marry her with Bres, he was still in line for the Fomorian throne though he was known to had married seven times before, it was a death sentence for Brighid, in the marriage vows they made her swear to not harm her husband regardless of the situation.

After the wedding she asked for three days for her to put some matters in order, which was allowed, three days wouldn’t make much of a difference. She thus decided to go to Teya, to meet Rudra in the council.

Amaterasu sugar queen

Amaterasu could even know what their plan was, the introduction of fairy goods via illegal means would allow them to control the local market because what the Deva were taxing them was nothing compared to their full capacity, they could even drive the price down so that the Deva food market would crash, local producers would become impoverished.

It was surprising to see a species designed to be of lower intelligence had come up with a plan like this, though fairies have longer lifespans, they planned ahead for years. Amaterasu though hated the idea of the introduction of a new substance; honey. It was refined flower nectar, sweeter than anything that they had ever produced, if further processed with Deva technology they could even make sugar a crystalline form of it much more potent and much more addictive.

Amaterasu knew of the high amounts of sugar a fairy could eat though this did not happen with Deva nor tengu (garuda as Deva called them) or tiangou like herself. She preferred to eat only meat, a choice Brighid respected, because the high intake of sugar would prove detrimental to her health. News of the Indra becoming larger due to his diet that consisted of peaches and figs had already begun circulating.

Sugar though was very mild when compared to the resin they got from the poppy flower, an invention of Brighid herself. Fairies were immune to its effects it only had a mild sweetness to it for them, but for any other species the substance would bring them to a haze worse than that of alcohol. Brighid though had not shared this knowledge to Amaterasu’s request, a substance like that would drive Deva to madness.

The day sugar would be shipped to the black-market Amaterasu was chosen to deal with the smugglers. They were tiangou like her and they did not trust fairies. They waited for them in the near moon of the planet, a Deva dome covered the place. Amaterasu greeted them with courtesy, these people though did not return the salute, it wasn’t an insult they weren’t exactly raised in the best conditions.

By their look Amaterasu could tell they were born in the wild fringes of the Deva planets, raised in freedom but also in need. Their clothes were expensive although they lacked style, perhaps because they never developed one. She found them interesting right away.

“Since when a dog lady works with those insects?” said one of them, he had a missing ear and bite marks on his right eye

“I had always work with them, but I fully understand your concerns, their minds work differently than our own” she smiled, their lack of etiquette wasn’t an insult it was just the way they were.

“If you need out of this rock just say the word. I wouldn’t mind having a wife like you” he winked

Amaterasu chuckled “If you knew how intimacy worked with me you would probably be upset, even if I liked the idea I have to decline your offer. Though the offer for gold in exchange of the new fairy craze” she opened a wooden box besides her chair, the small and rough clay pot had a sweet smell to it, much stronger than that of fruit “It lasts longer too, at any temperature”

She handed the jar to the two men, the younger one of the two had a taste, soon he began eating with such haste he would even begin chewing on the pot. The one with the missing eat pulled out his knife and cut the throat of the other. “What do you call this? Do you recommend me to try it?” He was shaking, it was excitement, this substance was so good it had driven his companion mad, he had to kill him though, he knew a feeding frenzy when he saw one and he couldn’t have someone eating their cargo.

“With all honesty I do not dare to try honey myself. So we have a deal?” She stepped away from the blood of the dead tiangou before them.

“What else you have?” He asked, fairies had promised more than this, he knew this would be more than enough, but he was curious.

“Its purified form of course” she handed him a small bag containing an amber powder “It is called sugar”

He didn’t have to taste it; he could smell it.

“The rest we cannot give you at this moment, we think this is enough” She pointed at the large pile of boxes, all of them filled to the brim with sugar.

He nodded “I think it’s fair” he then proceeded to go for his ship, he tried to aim the weapons towards Amaterasu, he knew fairies would be able to survive that but a tiangou was a whole different deal. He could walk off with this and earn enough to live the rest of his life in riches in the city of Coya.

Amaterasu though was untouched by the blast, one of her robes was roughly charred, it began falling off. She sighed and counted the layers, 5 layers, this guy had blasted away one, the temperature of the area began to increase, she walked up to the ship while the baffled man tried to fiddle the controls to hit her though her feet were way too quick for a heavy ship.

She gripped one of the cannons, it slowly began to melt. Amaterasu then flew up towards the cockpit. “Do you have the payment?” She was not surprised, after all this amount of riches would break any man.

He shook his head; Amaterasu gave a heavy sigh “You poor thing”

Fairies began to appear out of nowhere, they had learned magic to make themselves transparent, one of them held up the man’s companion and ate him from the inside, the fairy squeezed itself to sizes one would think impossible the body of the companion soon began to squirm and it then stood up healed.

Amaterasu knocked on the window “Would you please open?”

He tried to fly away though a spear came flying down from the sky breaking the dome and piercing the cockpit ceiling, the man was impaled, his body now lifeless could no longer control the ship so Amaterasu held it in place.

Brighid came floating down and grabbed her spear “I’ll have to clean it later” She said while showing disgust. Another fairy came into the body of the smuggling leader. “You gave him a choice; we could have come to an agreement with him even after this betrayal”

“You would have still cursed him to lose everything though or fall sick and mad… I think he knew death was a far better option”

Brighid turned around “Load everything and patch the hole!” Flowers soon began to cover the dome; fairies began to patch up the ship itself.

“How will we get the revenue then?” Said Amaterasu, all while looking at the crates of sugar being loaded into the ship, a few gold ones being unloaded from the ship as well, it was indeed not enough to make the payment, probably the smuggler thought he was going to get some new type of fruit.

Brighid looked at the ship and sighed “You and I will pose as servants of Lord Rudra. Aengus and Derg will deal with the sale, or trade it directly for titan ore and copper”

“You sure? We will have to deal with a very large amount. Why not gold?”

Derg, in the shape of the smuggling leader came down from the ship while the rest of the boxes were being loaded “Because trading gold is banned, we could get it in the black market but it would mean a bigger cut for whoever sold it to us. We can take a small cut of the pay and get a ship too”

“That would be very helpful, having a large cargo ship to carry troops” Brighid began to walk into the ship with the spear in her shoulder. Amaterasu followed in, she thought on how this was the beginning of the war.

Which side would fairies pick, after all they were still servants of the Deva just in a different way, they could now ask for a galaxy if they helped the Deva win the war against the Ashura, or they would use this very metal to craft weapons to subdue the Fomorians in their entirety.

They arrived to the slums of Coya, the city of Shudh, the population was mostly inhabited by garuda, who welcomed Amaterasu as one of their own, not even questioning the fact that she behaved as a noble lady, and even assumed Brighid was her handmaid and bodyguard, something both considered convenient, this allowed Brighid to continue carrying her spear while they walked around the city.

Rather short buildings, mostly warehouses was what consisted of the city, the few Deva who lived there were beggars, a few wolves guarded the large ports and warehouses while the birds walked wearing rather plain clothes. Amaterasu stood out by the fact that she was wearing white and red clothing with gold embroidery, the bodyguard dressed in a green silk dress stood out just as much. What helped them blend in were the two smugglers following them.

Brighid tugged on Amaterasu’s arm, she had smelled something, so she went to meet the guards at the door. They looked at the smugglers and greeted them with friendliness “You had to return with the goods only, or is she a buyer?”

Amaterasu cleared her throat “I am a trader, any other question ask it to my servant” Brighid glared at them, they took a step back and allowed them in.

They had no idea what it was but something in that bodyguard scared them, it was uncharacteristic to have a woman as a guard though the teen Deva holding the spear made them feel uneasy. They thought she was a Deva because fairies were rare at the time in Coya, and if anything, they would avoid a city like Shudh, a city of iron. What was a Deva servant doing in a city like this anyway? Probably a pair of criminal witches, if that were the case this would be the place for them to do business.

Brighid had chosen this spot because it reeked of fruit, the smell of the smugglers was also impregnated for Brighid that smell was clear, Amaterasu could smell it too.

The owner of the place was surprised to see his men coming back with people, he knew of their plan to steal from the fairies, nobody steals from the fairies. He was greeted by his pilot “Boss the fairies weren’t willing to trade, they had risen up their prices again. I though found something new, this tiangou has a chemical plant somewhere, well look at what she produces”

Derg handed the man a small bottle containing honey, the man smelled it then ate it, the group could see his pupils dilate after his tongue processed the taste. “What does she want for it?”

Amaterasu remained in her place “I have 100 Tan of honey” she said, making sure to use the tianou measurement for weight “And 50 of its purest form, sugar you may call it. Both last long without cooling unlike the fairy food”

The man laughed “This is far better! If what you say is true then name your price, I will name mine in the market anyway”

Amaterasu smirked “I want copper, tin and titan ore”

“Lady I deal with money not with metals… If you have a chemical plant, then you would be capable of dealing metals. Who are you?!” The man said

Brighid who was showing a very calm expression every single moment of the conversation sighed “Good sir we came here to get metals and metals we will get; we are negotiating out of respect not from need”

He glanced at his pilots, there was something off about them, he had noticed it before, but he thought they were under some fairy spell. It wasn’t their demeanor nor their appearance, it was their smell, it was slightly putrid, now that he saw more closely they weren’t even breathing, their blinking was off too, too exact as if they were doing it out of habit not because their eyes were getting dry. This man had dealt with fairies before, he had heard legends of them taking people as if they were mere puppets. This garuda though had never seen it happen, fairies usually only wanted the payment and left right after, this time was different. It had to be that they wanted something more than money, they brought something much more valuable.

The woman besides Amaterasu looked young, though bodyguards are rarely that short even if their magic is powerful every Deva will run out of mana eventually and must use their bodies to fight. If this woman were a fairy then the case would be different, then for her species she could be considered tall. What gave it away the most was her spear, it did not have the slight blue hue of polished iron, it was pure silver, titan ore, fairy steel, it was more expensive than iron and was harder to sharpen once the blade became dull, it was called fairy steel for a reason, fairies used it since they were allergic to iron.

His smugglers were very tired, and were growing more tired by the minute, the effect of the iron structure they were in was slowly poisoning them. All of this flew in his head at such a speed only a fraction of a second would pass. So, his men did try to betray the fairies, and the fairies had come to directly deal with him.

“I’ll see what I can do” he replied, hiding his fear. Even though he was in a steel building in a steel city he did not feel safe, the fairies were threatening to use him as a literal puppet if he didn’t comply. “It may take a couple of weeks though. I’ll need the sweets to be able to trade”

Amaterasu nodded “We will leave you the things, and return within two weeks”

Of course, they would leave, the two pilots were trying very hard not to faint. He though noticed something, the bodyguard was not showing those effects, maybe she was a Deva who served fairies, a fairy slave. Maybe he could use that as leverage for later.

They left and returned in the promised time, by that time he had told his workers what had happened with the two pilots who came with them, they weren’t them anymore but mere flesh puppets. All of them began wearing iron armor to prepare for their return.

They had not specified how much metal they needed but he sold the sugar at as high of a price as he could then with three fourths of it, keeping his usual cut of one fourth, he bought as much metal as he found, it was so much even the price for them rose.

He even had to rent warehouses to keep it all in, enough metal to rebuild the city many times over. The fairies were pleased to see this, though they didn’t expect to see so much metal. Derg laughed because their plans to buy a ship did not make sense now, they would need to buy a fleet to get all of that.

Amaterasu was amused too, though she asked their business partner to move all the metal to a single location. Derg went to buy salt and chalk which he then mixed. Once all of this was done Brighid began to draw a circle around the metal using the powder Derg had made.

Brighid now began to chant in sylvan, purple wings of light grew on her back, then everything was gone, they had left. The man, now rich enough to retire for the rest of his days shivered in fear now seeing in how much danger he was, and how smart he was to just comply with their orders. If they had the power to move that amount of metal, they could have very well leveled the city with the snap of their fingers.

Dagda second king of the fairies

The fairies were ruled first by Nuada, while his brother Dagda delved in magic like a Deva, though his magic was different from that of Devas and Ashuras alike. The fairies themselves were divided into many tribes, of which the main ones were the Tuatha de Dannan and the Fomorians. Nuada ruled over them both but the Fomorians one day decided to revolt and killed the fairy king.

Dagda at first was expected to become a lazy king, someone who could be easily scared from war, though he proved to be much more ruthless than his brother when it came to battle. He had many children, who held magic like his, and with that magic they created life that produced food, food with such a quality that the Devas paid anything for it thus being able to buy as much weaponry and even mercenaries to subdue the Fomorians.

He never expected to receive Amaterasu, but when he looked at her, he couldn’t help but fell glad to see that the Indra was beginning to see consequences from his horrible actions. Now he would probably reveal one of his children as a fake Indra while the fairies were given the real one. Dagda was smart, he knew better than to blackmail the Indra with this information.

The child was hard to take care of, until soon he found out that his youngest child, Lady Brighid could withstand the glow with no issue. Brighid was barely a woman but she was wise enough to understand how to raise a baby. Brighid who was the fairy who created flowers was more than capable of feeding an infant.

Brighid was not even afraid of the glow and thus she treated Amaterasu like she would treat any other child in need. She asked her father to build seals for Amaterasu to use, seals like the ones Brighid wore on her neck and arms, seals she used to hold back her own strength. Brighid herself had to wear seven seals to hold herself back.

Dagda crafted a seal for Amaterasu so that she could go out and play with other kids, live a normal life. He crafted the clothes in tiangou fashion, she was in a fairy world, but she shall never forget who she was. It was already enough that she was being raised as a fairy than make her dress like one, fairies gave her the name Belenus a name she loved though Brighid tried hard to make her remember her heritage, they would love to allow her to keep her fairy name, use fairy clothes and forget her blood, yet Brighid could see the great pain that brought Amaterasu to the world, at least this would allow her mother to be proud of her.

Amaterasu soon learned how to use the sword which she preferred over any other weapon, when she became 13 she got a gift from Krishna, who gifted her the Nandaka, a sword made with the Indra’s glow, a piece of her father for her to use as a weapon. Krishna himself admitted it was not the best weapon, but it was nonetheless a very good one.

Amaterasu liked the craft, the material though was not something she felt very fond of, the sword itself was a piece of her father, the man who caused the death of her mother and exiled her to live with the fairies. She wasn’t mad with the fairies, after all it wasn’t their fault they were sent to a barren world, they had managed to terraform it to their liking though it was far from a paradise.

Amaterasu soon learned that the planet even though poor in platinum and gold was rich in a particular metal; Iron, a metal that was poisonous to fairies the same way uranium was poisonous to Deva, the same way silver was poisonous to herself. They felt nothing at first though slowly the planet would drain their strength until they would fall sick and die, fairies were regarded as a weak race by many but they weren’t weak, they were poisoned by their own planet.

Krishna understood that Amaterasu did not like the sword, so instead she was given a white elephant, as white as her own hair. Brighid upon seeing this gripped her own titan-ore spear, Amaterasu though loved the gift, the animal was much like her, unwanted by many yet important.

Not wanting to overstay his welcome Krishna left the fairy planet as soon as he could. He knew what he had done, a white elephant is an insult in Deva culture, a gift that costs way too much to handle, an animal that is hard to tame for it knows its own importance.

Amaterasu did not keep the sword, instead she gave it to who she called her older sister, Brighid. Fairies are known to be vindictive creatures and Brighid was no different, holding that sword, feeling the heat from Surya’s glow made into a blade swore to soak that very blade in his blood.

This promise was seen by a few spies, fairies who worked for the Deva by the promise of power, magic that they would be taught to rival or even surpass Dagda and his family. These fairies spoke of the oath and how a fairy oath was never broken even if Surya did not die the blade would have the taste of Surya’s blood in one way or another, that was a power the Tuatha de Dannan held and did not held it lightly because vowing for something usually came at a higher price, fairies thus usually only vowed about things that they knew they could accomplish unscathed. Either Brighid loved her sister too much, or she was certain she could do what she said.

The Indra ignored this and considered it a fun threat, a servant thinking themselves capable of harming him, even if she were a Mahavidya, she was nothing more than a fairy trying to overstate her boundaries.

Amaterasu was surprised by how much of a fool the Indra was, the fairies expected to be taxed in species, of course Dagda complained but it was obvious it would happen. It was something they wanted for when you control a market the black market opens allowing for a greater profit.

Amaterasu the tiangou child with a burning glow

Izanami one of the maids of the gold palace of Surya was the most fearful of them all. Tiangou and more importantly wolves were nothing but mere servants, bodyguards at times and watchtower guards much more often. Nothing more than pets who had to do the bidding of their master. Izanami grew up in that wonderful Deva world, dreading every minute of it because of the Deva themselves.

Surya, in a drunken haze dragged her to his quarters and there he played with her like a toy, once he was done, he fell asleep while she cried next to his bed. In the morning he kicked her out of his room, there was never doubt on his mind of what he had done, it was not the first time he had done it and to her much less, even though she felt great pain he did not care after all serving was her duty.

Now though it was different, she felt her life leaving her body, the deadly glow of the Indra poisoning her bones burning her flesh. Against all advice she held her newborn baby close to her; tears fell down her cheeks while she looked at the newborn in the eye. The child had no idea its sole existence was killing Izanami. During those last moments of joy and fear Izanami named her child Amaterasu.

More than dread of her own death, she welcomed it, for some reason Vishnu had chosen her as more worthy than all of the wives of the Indra, Vishnu had decided to be born from her and thus release her from her torment with the bright glow. She soon felt how her life left her body, how she now was a formless being that flew out into the stars, to be reborn again somewhere better. She also felt fear, her child was a problem to the current Indra, his heir was a dog.

Even though the servants tried to hide this from Surya the glow was such that nothing could keep it back, Surya soon found his staff dwindling, for most of them were willingly giving up their life to burn in the baby’s poisonous glow while they gave it food.

Surya at first thought they were escaping, when he found out he would have preferred that to be the case. He was disgusted when seeing a white-haired child, dog ears and tail, glowing even brighter than him when an adult. He raised a dagger made from his own trimmed glow and prepared to stab the child, though his hand burned, the dagger melting the moment the baby began crying, sensing threat the glow had grown even brighter and now he was pushed back to the walls of the service room. He could do nothing but watch until the baby calmed down.

There was no way of getting rid of the baby, he now understood what Krishna was warning him about, how his actions would come back to hurt him. He also had the problem of how the baby would be raised, after all the Indra glow would only get stronger with age and in this point, it was far too bright for even him to handle. Soon servants would not be able to feed it, thus soon it would feel so stressed that the glow would begin consuming the planet. He could not trim it either, even if he found something that withstood the heat at such young age the glow would return a few days after.

Indra could raise the baby with great care and love, teaching it how to control that light, it was the only way from what he thought, that or let the glow grow wild and eat the entire universe then all the rest of them, all of creation eaten by the divine glow of the baby. A perfect punishment for the Indra, he now had to redeem himself raising the child, or so he thought at first.

Though after speaking to Krishna he was given another option. After all Krishna was an avatar of Vishnu himself, but even he would go against what was expected of him. Krishna told Surya of a fairy princess, the fifth Mahavidya who had recently joined Shiva’s council. Fairies were creatures made to last, after all they were created to withstand the glow of the Indra to a degree, so if anyone would be able to raise a child like that it would be a powerful fairy.

Indra so decided to hide the birth of the child from the world and exiled her to the fairy planet, so that he did not have to deal with that anymore.