No such thing as Good and Evil

Chapter 3: She is Light

A thousand years earlier…
“Sister,” Renami spoke softly, staring at her reflection in the water. “You know you shouldn’t interfere. If humans want to destroy one another, let them. It’s not our concern. We have more important things to attend to.”

“Do we?” Tsukatsu leaned against a tree and gazed at the full moon. “For years we have fought to save other demons, but what about humans? We can defend ourselves—we were born with the natural ability to fight. Humans, on the other hand, are born with the natural instinct to kill one another. That doesn’t mean that they have the strength to do so. And then there are the innocent, those that get caught in the middle of the fight. Why should people have to die because of someone else’s war?”

“They start their wars with the intention of bringing about peace. They end the war with the intention of devouring their enemy,” Renami turned to face her sister with a steel gaze and harsh tone. “They are poisoned by the illusion of power just because they defeated someone weaker than them. That pride turns into hatred, hatred turns into sorrow. Sorrow sweeps across the land like a disease. Brother feeds on brother like a rabid dog and parents kill their children during a famine,” she paused for a moment and softened her gaze. “If they really wanted to exist then they would cease this endless, useless bickering…not pray to us for forgiveness.”

“They just need help, Renami,” Tsukatsu’s voice was gentle as she spoke. “People are being brought up for the soul purpose of fighting. In their eyes, there is no other life for them. If peace came about they would crawl into a hole and die, spending their last days growing old and disappearing.”

“It’s none of our business. Besides, you know it’s forbidden, considered treason. If you were found out they would execute you. Are you willing to risk your life for a cause that can never be?”

“I will.”

“Stubborn woman… Do what you want.” Renami smiled softly.

“Won’t you help me, sister?”

“No. what would be the point? Even if we brought about peace the fighting would break out again. You can’t change the nature of a creature, regardless of the peaceful state of the world around them.”

Tsukatsu walked to her older sister and smiled. “To give them a moment of peace. In your life if you can obtain peace once, even if for a mere second, then death is no longer a fear. I know there’s no such thing as Sanctuary. I know that eventually down the road someone will hate enough to fight again. But we would be there to stop them again, wouldn’t we?”

“We would if it wasn’t an idealistic dream.”

“What?”

Renami gazed on with sad eyes and pulled her sister into her embrace. “If it came true, it was never really a dream it was a destiny. That is not yours though. Many have spoken of the same dream and none have accomplished it. You will fail if you attempt it, Tsukatsu.”

“Then I will fail trying, sister.”

“No, you will die failing.”

Present day…
“She didn’t listen to me,” Renami took a sip form her tea and placed the glass down. “She thought I was just being over protective.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about this?” Shuichi chewed on the end of a pocky stick and listened intensely.

“Why didn’t you tell Yuki about me?” She paused for a moment. “Or better yet, about us?” she gave a small grin and looked at Yuki.

“Us? Well…um…I was going to,” Shuichi spoke nervously, feeling the angry gaze that Yuki used.

“What us, Shuichi?” Eiri wrapped an arm around his lover and roughly dug his fingers into Shuichi’s shoulder.

Shuichi flinched at the pain and faked a smile while looking at Yuki. “Can we talk about this later, in private?”

“Sure.” Yuki grit his teeth together. “Please continue with what you were saying, Renami.”

“In a way, I was protecting her by not helping. Besides if I had ever left my post as frequently as she wanted me to then we would have been found out much sooner.” Renami took another sip from her tea.

“Clear something up for me,” Yuki let go of Shuichi and sat up straight. “My father told me that Tsukatsu was executed because she killed Ieyasu Tokugawa. Is there any truth to that?”

“None at all. My sister never killed humans. She dealt in aggressive negotiations. That’s what got her caught though.”

“Hey! I have a question,” Shuichi poured himself and Renami more tea. “You’re dead, right?”

“Yeah, why?” She appeared puzzled for a moment. Shuichi already knew that she had been dead for hundreds of years. So why would he ask?

“How did you die? You’ve been talking about your sister this whole time, but what about you?” Shuichi’s words mad a lot of sense. She hadn’t spoken of her down fall yet.

Renami stared at him in disbelief. Why the hell would he want to know something like that? It wasn’t exactly a subject that you spoke about over cookies and tea. Nevertheless, they had the right to know how she came to be in this artificially created manifestation.

She stood and walked away form them. Her wings eased around her lithe body and clasped together. Renami spoke with her back turned to them, “The day that my sister was to be executed, I defied the wishes of the elder gods and interfered. They took away our immortality and watched us die. My fate was a lot crueler than hers though. They beat me, cut, marked, burned, crushed, and raped me. Then they crucified me upside down, naked, and shoved a spear through my side. In a golden cup, they took my blood and offered it to the gods. It would take more than that to kill me though. So they sawed off my hands and forced my sister to watch. Then they broke of my wings with their bare hands, ripping the bones from my back. Finally they hacked my head off with a dull blade and burned my body, condemning me to Hell.” She sighed heavily and turned to face Shuichi and Yuki. “I harbor no ill will though. What’s done is done. I knew what would happen form the beginning, so it came as no surprise.”

“If that’s true then why are you here?” Yuki lit a cigarette and let the smoke out slowly.

“Because I want retribution,” Renami’s gaze dropped. “I want all those stories to stop lying about me and my sister. I’ll even write them a fucking book if it’ll get them to tell the truth!”

“You love your sister a lot, don’t you?” Shuichi asked sympathetically.

“Hell no! That bitch owes me a million yen. Just because she’s dead doesn’t mean that her debt is erased.”

“So, Renami,” Yuki said, crushing his cigarette in the ashtray, “if you’re the goddess of darkness what does that make your sister?”

“Didn’t they tell you at the temple?”

“No.”

“Tsukatsu is the Demon Goddess of Light. She is Light.”

A/N: Please, please, please review! I need to know what you think of my tripe. It doesn\'t matter if you want to tell me that I suck or insult me(though I hope that\'s not the case) just please talk to me! *You\'ve reduced me to begging*