The Prelude
Shimiko Chinoike had finally arrived in the Land of Hot Springs. She had insisted that her marriage to Vik Chinoike take place in the Valley of Hell. The man was surprised as the location wasn't exactly romantic. The bleak and barren lands were so rich with iron you could smell it in the air. Shimiko had learned from the ancient ciphers of her clan that this was the true birthplace of the Chinoike. The Vampiric ancestors who were originally said to have dwelt in the mountains of the Lightning Country were in fact native to this land. Ozari the progenitor of her clan had founded a dynasty here. She decided it was a fitting place to restore the name and power of the Chinoike. There were secrets in this land. Secrets that would give her the power to protect those she cared about.
Shimiko had left much of the preparation in the hands of wedding planners. The truth was this marriage didn't really mean much to her from an emotional standpoint. It was purely political. Vik had pledged the Clan's power to her and in exchange she'd give her hand in matrimony. It was purely transanctional and both of them knew it. She didn't want the Twins there. She didn't want Miyu there. She didn't want Nariko there. This was an empty ritual that was devoid of the love and passion she envisioned her ideal marriage to be teeming with. As if to accentuate the bitter and bleak nature of the union, she had allowed Vik to let her parents come. The Elders would not tolerate the disrespect of uninviting them. Shimiko had put up a fight but had eventually relented. The ANBU operative didn't like them but truthfully wanted them there. She had her own reasons for this, reasons that she couldn't let others catch on to. So, in keeping with the skills of an intelligence officer, she manipulated the situation to her own benefit. Celestia and Sogu Chinoike were permitted to attend but would be staying a bit away from the rest of the clan. It was humiliating and many in the Clan frowned on the state-of-affairs, but ultimately there was little that could be done.
The Ceremony
Shimiko considered this a bit of a sham wedding but appearances needed to be kept up. The whole village knew she was an ardent Jashinist and it would be suspicious if she didn't at least try to have an Sacristan preside. She had always wanted Lady Superior Mora to be the one to bless her marriage. The old woman would have loved to attend, but she knew that her presence at a hollow marriage would only make her disciple feel guilty. Instead, a younger Sacristan was sent. The Elders of course protested and said that this wedding would be purely of Chinoike tradition. Shimiko agreed and it was decided that Sacristan would be present to co-bless the wedding, but that the Church's involvement would end there.
Shimiko went with a very traditional Chinoike wedding dress. The dress had many jewels and precious stones. He had spared no expense on the dress and the Clan had money to burn. Nariko had steadily filled their pockets with money over the course of many months. The wedding was quiet affair. Solemn and mystic, but not necessarily as dull and depressing as one would think. Shimiko did respect Vik and she could see him as a friend. There was enough trust and mutual admiration between them that they could put on a good show. The wedding took place in a cavern overlooking the valley. There was a stream of iron-rich water running through the cave and the location was so very: Chinoike. The High Elder officiated the marriage and it contained all the proper elements of a family wedding. Blood. Bats. The whole nine yards. There were three days of fasting leading up to the wedding followed by three days of feasting. Shimiko sat as far away from her parents as she could muster. When they weren't shuffling to the various events that made up the week-long ceremony, they were crying. Shimiko ignored them. She had hardened her hearts to their suffering long ago.
The wedding festivities eventually true to a close. The newlyweds retired to a luxury cabin so that they could enjoy a few days honeymoon between themselves. Her and Vik shared a bed and while they did consummate the marriage as was customary, it was a less than pleasant affair. That act made Shimiko feel dirty. She felt as though she were prostituting herself. She reasoned that wasn't far from what the scenario was. Mora knew her dilemma and had advised her to go through with it for the sake of Jashin. Their Lord was coming soon and he expected a world loyal to him. That could not happen unless the Lightning Country fell to the Church and the Lightning Country could not fall to the Church unless the Chinoike backed them. She had told Shimiko to go through with the marriage and out of devotion to her religion and her desire for a better world for her twins, she did her duty. Nariko wouldn't have done that, but Nariko was miles away. She knew Ryuko would understand and try to sympathize. Natusuru might judge her but even still, she knew that the Senou would at least try to help her. But they were all gone now. This was a decision she made and would have to live with. The wedding took a piece of her that day, but she vowed to Jashin that she'd gain something even greater.
The Aftermath
The lost history of the Chinoike Clan mentioned a power. A power greater than any other within the Clan's known arsenal. A power that when wielded by the right Chinoike could turn back entire armies. Shem Chinoike was the first to wield such a power, but he would certainly not be the last. Shimiko had studied the lost history and when she came to the Land of Hot Springs, she found more evidence of this power. It took a while to process and internalize but the message was clear: underneath the Dead Spring was a portal. A portal to another world. Whether this world was within her own or a vehicle to a different dimension she could not say. The celestial mechanics of the phenomena were beyond even her keen mind, but it did make one thing clear. She would need to sacrifice her own flesh and blood. Done.
After the wedding was passed and consummated, Shimiko went off on her own. The clandestine but official explanation for her disappearance was that she wanted to survey the land and its suitability for Kumogakure. The truth was far more sinister. The Chinoike lurked and stalked the small cabin where her parents had been staying. The Chinoike had set up a series of elaborate encampments in the many caves dotting the valley. Unfortunately, Shimiko had demanded her parents be far away from the main group. This was partially to humiliate them and partially so that she could pick them off with minimal interference. Shimiko's father was powerful, but his heyday was gone. He had taught Seigi much and more but ultimately his son was far stronger than him and many considered Shimiko to be orders of magnitude stronger than Seigi at his peak. When Shimiko set upon her mother and father, they were practically helpless. After a silent but quick battle, she had knocked them both unconscious. She tied them up and dragged her 'rents to the Dead Spring.
The Valley of Hell was dotted with unnaturally iron-dense hot springs. Most of them had a queer red color. This one was black and it bubbled with with a constant intensity. The lost history mentioned that only a Chinoike with a Ketsryugan could see through the black liquid. Shimiko activated her doujutsu, grabbed her tied up and gagged parents, and jumped in the hot springs. She found that the old tale was true. Her vision was just as good in the Dead Spring as it was outside of it. She saw a shimmering red portal towards the bottom and swam. Down. Down. Down she went.
When Shimiko emerged on the other side, she and her parents were soaked. Celestia
and Shogu coughed and retched through their gags as they struggled against their bonds. Shimiko was not particularly strong so the journey to this word took a herculean effort. The blonde grabbed them and continued dragging them along the ground until she reached the edge of a cliff. The new world she had traveled into seemed to be a bleak and desolate place. She was standing on a cliff's edge overlooking a bottomless pit. She looked around and saw that there was not a soul around. There was a ceiling above her and the smell of iron was so strong that she could barely breath.
The center of the Earth? she thought to herself.
No the Center of All Earths....
A voice replied in her head. The ANBU took a step back and looked around again. She tried to find the source of the speech but came up with nothing. Celestia and Shogu were practically screaming through their gags. She continued to ignore their muffled cries as she analyzed the situation. She then realized who was talking to her.
The Eight Headed Hydra of Hell....
The moment the thought crossed her mind, the abyss stirred. With eerie silence, a mass of heads rose from the misty void below. Shimiko soon found herself staring at an eight headed serpent covered in blood and what appeared to be liquid iron. This was the creature that had blessed Shem with a new level of power. This was the monstrosity that unlocked the true potential of both sources of his power. Shimiko as a direct descendant of the Clan could access this power but she'd need this monster's help in doing so.
What do you want Shimiko of the Ketsryugan?
Power...the same power you gave my ancestors.
When in this strange place, the urge to speak had left her. She could speak, she just saw no reason to. This creature was capable of telepathic communication and for some reason she found thinking easier and more intimate than speaking in this setting.
Ancestor. Only one of your kind has proven worthy enough to seek us out.
No. I meant what I said....ancestors. I'm sure Shem wasn't the only one to visit you.
Oh?
Yes. I'm sure the Necrossiah was the second Chinoike to seek you out.
Hm. We do not wish to engage in useless genealogies with a wormlette. Have you brought us a sacrifice girl?
Shimiko grabbed her parents and put them on their knees before the creature. Shimiko had always fantasized about killing her parents, but there was something that always stayed her hand. As much as she despised living under their command, they had engrained certain values in her. Values that were hard to break from even when she had placed her full faith in Jashin and his Church. They Struggled and Shimiko used her a health volume of the iron rich liquid in the area to restrain them and keep them in place.
Every eye of every head of the Hydra was on her.
Well....we're waiting Shimiko of the Ketsryugan.
Shimiko's mother, Celestia Chinoike, was crying. The mother was weeping not just for her life and that of her husband, but for that of her only daughter. She had watched her son turn into a morbid monster before her very eyes. Her baby boy. Her only boy. The man had grown disconnected from her and though he remained the more respectful of her two children, the rift was there. She had fought so hard to keep her own daughter from going down that path and in her bid to keep her safe and healthy, Shimiko had turned into something far worse. The pain had broken her. Celestia had become a shell of a woman. With each passing year her mind and heart became more and more hollow. And this was how it was destined to end. Not with a tearful reunion and a rekindling of love, but with murder. The fact that she was in another dimension and was about to be sacrificed to a eldritch monster meant little. The real cosmic horror was that after years of estrangement from her daughter, their story would come to a bloody and unforgivable end.
Shimiko yanked the gag from the woman's mouth.
Celestia coughed up iron and hoarsely begged for her life.
"Shimiko please! Whatever I've don-, whatever we've done, we can get through this as a family. Please god no don't do this. Please. Please. Please."
Shimiko stood behind her mother and gripped her by her hair. She held the head back and produced a serrated kunai. It was a weapon she had made as a genin. A small object that had said so much about her personality and her approach to the shinobi lifestyle. The jagged edges would make this excruciatingly painful. She had brought this weapon for a reason.
"What would your brother think?" she whispered in a desperate bid to cause her daughter to reconsider. She knew Shimiko was always closest to him. Maybe his memory would cause her to stop and think for a moment. The name did make her pause, but when she thought of how he died and how powerless she was to stop it. She knew what needed to be done.
Without ever responding to the woman that birthed her, Shimiko yanked Celestia's head back further and dragged the serrated kunai against her mother's throat. Shimiko's mother made a gurgling sound and began to thrash wildly. Shimiko remained still as she held her mother fast. Blood squirting from her neck and running down her body. The affair was messy and filled with pain. Shimiko didn't care about her mother but she knew there was no turning back from this. There was no do-overs. She was committed to forever being someone who killed their own family for a taste of power.
Shogu Chinoike trashed wildly within his bounds. He screamed so hard through his gag that even the Hydra appeared moved. The man flashed and flared his chakra but to no avail. Shimiko had nearly broken his spine and short-circuited his tenketsu with her blood. The substance was leaking out his ears and mouth as she punished him for his defiance. The man strained and fell over. He was racked with sobbing. He had buried his son and just watched his own beloved daughter murder his wife. He then went still as grief and shock consumed his mind. There was nothing left for him in this life, and he did not know it yet but there'd be nothing for him in the next either.
Shimiko grabbed the man by his blonde hair. Hair that she had inherited from him. Seigi had taken after their mother and she their father. Shimiko couldn't say why she had taken out her mother's gag. Maybe it was because she wanted her mother to talk her out of it. Maybe because she hated her mother more than her father and wanted to hear her beg. Or perhaps because at the end of the day, it was both. She just wanted to prove that she could endure her mother's protests without reconsidering. Now that that was done she didn't want or need to her her father's words. Not that the man had anything to say anyways. Celestia had made Shimiko think of Seigi. Her older brother dying in a hospital, unable to save himself. For some reason, her father had made her think of Nozomi. It wasn't anything he said or did in particular that set the thought off, but it came to her nonetheless. She remembered losing to the girl. She remembered how it felt and she remembered what Nozomi had said to her. She had spoken the words warmly, but there was an undeniable condescension to them.
" We're not all monsters."
"But some of us are" Shimiko replied to the memory.
Shimiko slashed her father's throat and pushed him forwards. The ANBU Captain stepped back and sheathed the kunai. She stared back at the Hydra whom stared back at her. Seconds passed. Minutes passed. Hours passed. It was tough to say how long the Hydra waited, but wait he did. Shimiko stared back at him defiantly. She had just killed her mother and father. The act had given her a calmness of spirit. A patience and peace that she had never known. But it also stained her soul. There was a black mark of evil that indelibly marred her personhood. A mark that would never be erased.
The various heads of the Hydras suddenly moved forward. They violently gored and ripped her mother and father's bodies apart. Far from a proper burial, Celestia and Shogu were torn to pieces and eaten by the creatures. Nothing but a pile of blood entrails were left. Shimiko used her blood to gently push the remainder of her parents into the abyss and The husband and wife's body and soul were consumed by the Hydra. It would give them fuel for what was about to happen next.
You surprise us. There was a coldness to you. One that we have not felt for many many years.....yet you are proud. Almost too proud. We thought you could not be pressed into killing them for our sake and yet you do...pray tell what drives you Shimiko of the Ketsryugan.
Faith.
I see.....Well then. Step forth and receive the gift of your People.
Shimiko walked to the very edge of the abyss and the Hydra leaned in. Each head spread out and locked onto her. Their eyes glowed and a series of rings appeared in the center of their pupils. She found herself getting lost in the mesmerizing pattern until: oblivion. Shimiko's mind was gone and all she could see is what the Hydra wanted her to see. The young woman felt as though she had been hit by a mental train and the force if the power staggered her. She was lifted several feet of the ground as the Hydra focused on her and transmitted their power into their body. Every strand of ever cell in her body vibrated with the lost power of ancient vampires. The blood of Hagoromo's, diluted over the course of centuries stirred and activated. The process left her seeing the things her ancestors saw, feeling the things they felt, and hearing the things they said. They spoke in a strange unfamiliar language. Images of the cipher she had read came to mind. She could understand it as though she had spoken in their tongue her whole life. And with the comprehension of the text, came the comprehension of the spoken word. She found herself babbling in their odd tongue as centuries worth of knowledge and vampiric mysticism poured into her. Shimiko's eyes remained locked open, her Ketsryugan shrinking before being joined by several tomoes. The scene was frightening and would cause even the most hardened of men to faint. Shimiko convulsed as the pain of growth racked her body.
Each head of the Hydra had a power to give. Some would come to her immediately. Others would take more time to unlock. The beast hummed in the language to her. They sang to her mind. Telling it to awaken what lay dormant. It was as if they were singing a song and with every chorus, every note, something new was unlocked. One by one the eight tomoe appeared. When they were done, they dropped the levitating Shimiko back onto the ground. Shimiko blinked unaware of what had just transpired. She touched her face and felt blood. She had been "crying crimson" as the Chinoike called it. What happened next was a blur. She remembered that the Eight Headed Hydra from Hell had said something to her. Something that dug into her. She couldn't remember what it was. All she could recall was that they had slunk back into the abyss. She didn't remember how she could back out of the world. She could have sworn she remembered diving into the abyss with them, but then again she also remembered swimming back out of the Dead Spring. Neither were true yet both were true. The most recent coherent thought was of her returning to Kumogakure alone. People would be looking for her parents, Vik would be wondering where she had gone. She wasn't sure what she'd say to the Clan but somehow she knew she'd figure it out.
In short, the wedding of Shimiko Chinoike was a life-defining moment. It was a turning point in who she was as a person. She was cursed, yet blessed. She had sacrificed her parents to a monster as old as time. Yet, aside from the power, she was glad that it had turned out this way. They meant nothing to her. They were ants. Insects. Distractions. There was another whom Shimiko considered more than just a parent. Someone who was her friend and mentor. She was thankful that she still had this person but also mournful. It meant that she had more to give. Shimiko was glad that she had sacrificed her parents to the Hydra. For if they were meaningful it would have been better to sacrifice them to Jashin. The mark on her soul told her that this was just the beginning. For if she could sacrifice her parents to the Hydra, she could sacrifice someone greater to the God she worshiped and adored.
Hachidora Ketsryugan Obtained
Exit
Land of Hot Springs -> Land of Frost -> Land of Lightning (48 Hours)
