"Untrue," Fuu replied.
She went on to tell Shiori a secret that she did not know. That Shouki was her son. Dead now, or at least he was hoped to be. A human surviving the assault he endured as well as being consumed by a toad summon seemed unreasonable. "Heh. Sorry for you loss," Shiori replied sarcastically, her face was far too frozen to demonstrate the sick smile beneath her stiff facade. Shiori watched in unspoken terror as Fuu stood up from her seat and brought it behind her. "No!" Shiori protested, she was still unable to move. "Don't!" Panic laced her word as she struggled against an unmovable force.
"I can do this his way as well," Fuu threatened as she heard the chair's legs touch the floor.
"I'll TALK!" Shiori yelled, her voice sounded indignant but that was actually her begging. "Please!" Fuu wordlessly pushed down on Shiori's shoulders forcing her knees to buckle. She was strong for a bookworm. She posed Shiori like one would a mannequin. Shiori's face twitched into what could only be described as a contorted snarl, the one of the few things she still had power over. Shiori screamed in frustration, unable to break this invisible restraint.
"Wire?"
"Just stop this," she cried. Not just in term of use, but there were actual tears made of earth that escaped the corners of her eyes. More gold than crimson in this case, but still dry tears that fell down the sides of her face. Someone who did not know better would have thought the strange substance was glitter. It was not obviously. Fuu did not relent, she wrapped the fine wire around Shiori's limbs carefully and precisely like any oracle would. She could feel the cold metal from the chair against her forearms and through the thin cloth of her dress. She could feel despite being paralyzed the taut, biting wire as it pressed into her skin. She seemed satisfied with her handiwork when she broke through the seal on the floor. Shiroi immediately rocked over, her attempts to free herself finally heeded by her body but sadly she was now attached to a chair. It crashed onto the floor, Shiori's eyes left to gaze parallel across the massive open space to spy the next room. What was in there? Was there someone she could call to? Was there a way to find help.
All Shiori would be able to see was Fuu's boots when she was asked again the woman's first query. "Again, I ask you to tell me a tale... A tale of how you came to be alive once again... Sate my curiosity and then this will end."</B><i></i>
Shiori let out a sigh. <B>You know your history I would hope. But do you understand it?" Shiori went on to ask. Shiori's arm rested on the floor, she looked at the intricate markings on the floor. This was an old craft. "Godsfall is as good as any place to start. I... was once so much more than I am today. I was old and that was made me strong. I had never died, not completely that is. That was what made me strong, and powerful, and loved. But I am also the Queen of the Earth Court, something that sounds like a wonder. I was... I am the very earth -- I nurture, provide, protect and just am. My scope and breadth were great, all of the terrain in Wind was my domain, exceeded only by the Solar Court and the King. Not my King, but the KING of all Ancients. The world was not a terrible place, not truly. The world was bountiful once... and green. The winds sang and the earth hummed in cadence with every living thing.
Then man came, from where I do not know. Perhaps from over the great salt sea. The lands from the North? It did not matter, not really. They were like an infestation. They hunted wastefully. They bred without consideration for the world around them. Unclean. Barely intelligent. But delicious. I do not remember who was the first to discover that humans were edible. We do not need to eat. The natural energies of Wind Country are unique as far as I know and gave birth to us through the elements we identify. Our element also sustains us. The earth and the wind are... and have always been all that I need to survive. And over time we grow in strength, making the oldest of the Ancients with the greatest resources the most powerful. But human souls made a difference, they were almost like... a way to cheat nature. Injuries that would take months to heal would be gone in moments. The death and rebirth cycle hastened to an instant with a powerful enough soul. I wanted to eradicate humanity, I saw them as nothing more than a terrible blight on this world but my brothers saw it differently. Especially the most violent of us - Homura. The flame does nothing but burn and destroy and it must be fed... Homura's ravenous appetite for destruction was the only thing that prevent him from successfully destroying everything. He fought. Then he would fight again. IF he was not fighting, he was thinking about fighting, honing his skills as a fighter or watching someone else fight. This made him strong-willed, rash and foolish. He died more often than one would think in these early days when mankind was still a novelty. He was not a child when he was reborn for long, with the use of souls he grew exponentially in power in a short time until he was ultimately as untouchable as myself and brother Fuujin.
We did not destroy man, although I regret ceding now. We made them into pets. Slaves being the word that your books used. Perhaps it would be more accurate from your point of view. We saw you as nothing more than chickens or cattle. Capable of meager works yes. Best used as food of course. Some worked their animals while others let them graze in pastures. Homura liked to watch them fight. I suppose you could liken it to a cock fight. Some of the lesser Courts never had slaves and perhaps that was why they never became great. I had slaves..." She shrugged as she admitted this fact. In fact she had many slaves. She ate them but had little other use for them, in fact she thought herself benevolent in the fact that she let them frolic in the fields. Fenced in fields of course, so nearly cage-free animals. Some were service animals, they scrubbed and cleaned. Overall she had little use for them besides providing a meal in the case of injury or if she saw Homura and Fuujin grow in power to maintain her state of authority.
"Homura bred his slaves to fight and to fight well. It should not surprise me that he built the greatest warrior history has ever known. You know him as 'Primus', that was his free-name but not the name he was given as a slave. He fought in Homura's stadium, each time he left with a celebrated victory. It was tiresome and boring even, the other courts used to watch these battles on occasion and this human became a celebrity you could say. Like a cat that could do tricks, a novelty. Wagers were made and it was obvious that Primus would always leave victorious. I do not know the circumstances of his escape, but I believed him to be irrelevant. When he returned, he had gathered the strays into what he called an army. It was pathetic really. He encouraged our livestock to rise up against us, taking them from their pastures and stables in the dead of night. The numbers were more than we anticipated, they outnumbered us more than 10 to 1. It did not matter of course, they were weak and human. Any one of the great lords could have destroyed his entire army with a motion.
I could have killed this rebel pets myself then, perhaps. I have... a limit. As does every one of my brothers. We are beholden to our nature unlike humanity. Where Homura fights with unending zeal, I cannot say he particularly desires it only that he does it because that is what he is. It is a compulsion we have no control over. I... cannot intervene in matters," She sighed. She needed to find the words for this, specific words. "I am a neutral arbitrator because the desert can take no sides. A limit until that day even I failed to fully understand or appreciate. If two Ancients were in battle, I could not intervene unless I was directly offended. I needed to allow their strength and skillset determine their survival. It was not a terrible limit, I could still defend myself and my court if offended by someone else had to start the war. Man knew this limit and perhaps understood it better than I did in my indifference and stupidity. They attacked the other Courts, leaving the Earth Court out of the fray. This made us feeble, we could not even discipline our own slaves. It was as if an internal force was preventing us...
Even without my intervention, humanity was on the cusp of a loss. The other courts were simply slaughtering these rebellious humans. That was until Primus challenged Homura and Fuujin to battle. It was a grossly one-sided battle, or it should have been. Either Ancient on his own was more than sufficient to destroy a single, weak human. I watched the decisive battle from afar, over the clash of blades and armor. Over the battle cries and death calls. The entire army became silent for the battle between Primus and the great Ancients. Fuujin's hubris and Homura's bloodlust proved to be their downfall. A single cut from Primus' blade, I believe it was called Shoki or 'demon queller' in present tongue."
