[The End of Osamu Ashikaga]: Those Who Inherit the Future

Akatsuki sat alone at the coffee table while the other girls stood alongside each other on the opposite side of the room. It seemed the girls could only bear to stomach Akatsuki’s presence if they stood a good distance away from her. But just as Akatsuki surmised, the girls had questions that needed answering. Though, they wondered if Akatsuki was answering their questions out of good faith and respect, or if divulging the truth was another step in their plan.

Akatsuki crossed her legs and leaned back in her chair. “I’m sure it must’ve been shocking for you all. None of you had any clue that Osamu had changed so much. Well, you thought you knew, but you had only scratched the surface. I want to assure you that Osamu’s hatred for mankind and the state of the world is genuine. This isn’t some noble ploy to unite the world against him or create peace through a mutual interest to kill him. His intent to destroy this world is very real.

“He doesn’t believe mankind can ever foster a peaceful world in its current state. That is why he’s going this far to change the world with his own hands. He intends to destroy humanity and rebuild the species in his image. It is his hope that the world will remain a peaceful place for all eternity once he’s done.”

“Just before he opened the gates of hell, Osamu and I were able to communicate within his own memories.” Taeko said, her arms crossed and gaze focused on Akatsuki. “But it was strange. He had memories he shouldn’t have had, about events that occurred long before he was born. He had vivid memories of the Second World War, the Senkumo clan massacre, and of various atrocities that took place throughout human history. And even that was only a glimpse. I’m sure he had many more memories of many different wars. The question is, how did he get them?”

The girls’ eyes widened in horror when Akatsuki smiled, something she rarely ever did. “It would seem you know the answer to that already. He has memories of nearly every war and atrocity ever carried out throughout history because Sis and I gave them to him.”

“Why would you do such a thing?” Kagutuchi asked.

“Because Osamu waited years for you guys and Heaven to broker a deal, but it never happened.” Akatsuki began. “After the Inari Standoff, he watched as the prospect of peace slipped further away. When it became clear that Heaven was going to execute him, Osamu came to us and asked to see the future. He wanted to see what was going to happen, how Taeko’s plan to initiate the Third Great Holy War would go, and most importantly, how to get the best outcome.

“But what we saw changed him. We searched countless timelines, only to discover that many of you end up dead in most of them. The only true way to prevent any of it from happening was if Osamu were to commit suicide. Had he succeeded in his suicide attempt the night he met Izanami, all of this would’ve been avoided. His drastic change began when he saw that.

“He thought about going back and ensuring his suicide attempt succeeded, but in the end, he decided against it. He couldn’t do that to you or to Inari. Instead, Osamu accepted his role as an enemy to the Shinto pantheon. He knew he’d have to go along with Taeko’s plan to start this war, and that he’d have to come up with a plan to fight the whole world.

“So, in order to learn how to avoid the future we saw, we started visiting the past instead. Osamu wanted to learn about the nature of mankind, of war, and about the concept of nations. He immersed himself in the horrors of the world, all so he could learn how they transpired and how they came to an end. His hatred for war and humanity blossomed after witnessing the past in all its visceral detail. It was then that he vowed to change the world.

“Sis and I met with him in secret one night by the beach. That was when he told us his plan. He told us he was going to destroy the world and murder billions of people. He’d wipe the slate clean and turn the Third Great Holy War into an extinction event. Well, near-extinction, anyway. It was Sis and I that traveled through time with him. It was us that witnessed all those horrors alongside him.

“More than that, he knew that we also bore hatred against this world. Sis and I were killed in the crossfire of the Onīn War. We were brought back to life by Izanami because of our outstanding devotion to Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu during our short lives. But really, she did it to settle a dispute between Oyamatsumi and the pantheon.

“After the Onīn War, Oyamatsumi suggested using the eruption of Mount Fuji to bring the Japanese people to heel. He wanted to reign in the conflict before it triggered a collapse of order in the nation. Many gods were being cycled out during that time, so the older gods like Oyamatsumi proposed that they take charge of the responsibilities left behind by their dead peers. Izanami refused this proposition.

“Instead she made Omagatoki and I into deities and had us take charge of the responsibilities that would’ve given the older gods new purpose. Of course, Izanami didn’t realize she was playing right into Amaterasu’s hands. I’m sure she only wanted to prevent callous power-grabs from causing a civil war within her own pantheon.

“And so, Omagatoki and I were denied our rest, forced to watch over time, space, and humanity itself for all these years. We were made to serve the very race that murdered us, all while the nation fell into a death spiral of chaos and carnage. It wasn’t fair. How dare they enslave us with immortality, then charge us to watch over their pantheon and humanity when neither side was willing to learn their lesson?

“We know the inner workings of both humanity and the gods, and we know that it’s all rotten to the core. We know firsthand, because we were the victims of that rot from both sides. Is it really any surprise that Sis and I have always resented both Heaven and Earth? The extremity of Osamu’s plan took us by surprise, but we empathized with his feelings more than anyone else. We understood his desire to destroy this cursed world.”

“So when he came to you two, you agreed to help him.” Yoko said. “You two knew how many people were going to die and you agreed to it anyway? Did you know that Chiya and Aika were going to get wrapped up in this and killed as well, that Yuuto and Kiyoko would get blown to hell?”

“We knew everything.” Akatsuki answered. “That doesn’t mean we took any joy in killing your daughter and crippling the rest of your children. We especially felt terrible about Aika, but it had to be done.”

“What the hell do you mean it had to be done?” Taeko growled. “You talk like this grand plan of yours wouldn’t have succeeded if you didn’t murder that poor girl and her family.”

“Because it wouldn’t have.” Akatsuki retorted. “Aika had to die because she was the only one who would’ve been able to convince Osamu to stop Dark Dawn. By killing her, Osamu ensured that no one would stand in his way. It’s a testament to just how committed he truly is to his cause. His own children, his friends, his wives, he’s willing to sacrifice it all for his new nation, and for world peace.”

“Hold on…” Shinju gasped. “You’re telling us that Aika would’ve prevented all of this from happening? She could’ve saved this world?”

Akatsuki nodded. “We saw a future where she was able to talk to Osamu and restore his faith in humanity. She was the first life he ever saved. He loved her dearly. Of course he would’ve listened to her. If Osamu had any regrets or reservations about what he was going to do, he would’ve let her live and run the risk of dropping his plan later. Instead, he chose to kill her so he could initiate Dark Dawn and go through with his genocide of mankind.”

“And the ones that gave him the determination to go through with these monstrous acts were you two.” Taeko snarled. “You said that Osamu’s change began when he realized the only way he could’ve avoided the Inari Standoff and the Third Great Holy War was if he killed himself. Tell me something then, Akatsuki. If you noticed that his mental health was shot to shit by what he saw, why did you proceed to show him the atrocities of the past?

“You frame it as if you had no control over Osamu’s desire to see the past, but you and your sister were the only ones that could’ve taken him there. If you knew he wasn’t well, denying his wish would’ve been the responsible thing to do.”

“You know what I think?” Shinju said. “I think you deliberately pushed Osamu into a dark headspace. I think you used him as a conduit for your own hatred for the world. You fed his destructive tendencies. You nurtured his violent spirit. We know you and your sister aren’t stupid. You must’ve known that Osamu would resort to the most heinous crimes if he was pushed into a corner and conditioned to think pessimistically about the world.”

“Well, it’s not like any of you were any real help either.” Akatsuki said. “Who was the one that got him involved in the planning for the Third Great Holy War? That was you, Taeko. Who were the ones that flailed about impotently while the deadline for Osamu’s execution drew near? Why, it was all of you. Under your care, Osamu was hopeless. He saw no way out of the bind the Inari Standoff put him in.

“How many years did you waste trying to find a peaceful solution to this mess? You blindfolded yourselves to the harsh truth of the situation, that Heaven was never going to let this pass peacefully. You refused to acknowledge that you were already at war with the pantheon, and so you wasted precious time on naive, ineffective solutions. You were blind to the full scope of human nature and the world’s capacity for senseless, wanton violence.

“Did we do it on purpose? Of course we did. It was the only thing that would’ve given him hope. It was the only way he would ever devise an effective plan for permanent change in this rotten world.”

“Akatsuki!” Taeko shouted.

“You want to know what I think?” Akatsuki began. “I think you were all hiding behind Taeko. At least she was willing to start this war and get her hands dirty. The rest of you were just waiting for her and Osamu to come up with a solution so they could solve all your problems for you while you spectated from a distance. You didn’t want do get yourselves directly involved in this war because you knew what it meant. You knew that innocent people would die and you’d all be complicit.

“You wanted to come out of this war maintaining your own moral identity, otherwise it would’ve destroyed everything you thought you knew about yourselves. You’re just reactionaries letting everything in this world happen to you, then holding up the emotions you feel as some sort of proof that you’re moral people in an otherwise cruel world.

“You delude yourselves into thinking that if enough of you spineless cowards gather and commiserate about the sorry state of the world in cultish lockstep, you might actually manage to change something. Yet, you change nothing. You’re not equipped to have any meaningful effect on this world because you’re not willing to look at it for the horror show that it is. You’re weak, all of you.

“But go on, blame Sis and I. Frame it as if we’re the ones that doomed him. The way we see it, we saved his life. Your impotence and indecision was killing him from the inside out. When we showed him the past, he found the strength to take matters into his own hands.”

“I understand that you and your sister have your own grudges.” Shinju said. “I get that, but…there is no justification for genocide. There just isn’t. Humanity doesn’t deserve death just because of what happened to you.”

“What you’re doing is like trying to stop all forest fires by wiping out all the forests.” Kagutsuchi interjected. “Killing off most of humanity isn’t a good solution to the problem! Billions of people will die without knowing what’s going on! How is anyone supposed to learn from that?”

“Omagatoki and I support this genocide wholeheartedly.” Akatsuki asserted. “Taeko, you would agree that a nation is its people. Without a population that agrees to be governed, and without a military to protect that population, there is no nation. Osamu recognizes this fact. It’s why he chose to kill as many people as he could. It’s all so he could break the nations and shatter the current world order.

“The international alliances and feuds that fuel wars will no longer exist. The world’s social issues, its systemic failures, all of it will be reset by this genocide. Osamu and the nation of Minavere will establish a new world order to replace the old one. Once Osamu’s done with this world, future generations of humanity won’t even know what war is.

“He’s doing this for all of you. He wants to make certain that you can all live in this world without being endangered by another global conflict. He’s thinking about Izanami, Kagutsuchi, and Gekko, and how the world will look for them centuries down the line.”

“Oh, piss off.” Taeko said. “He left Gekko for dead back in Fukuoka. He manipulated Anne and sold Yoko’s mother out to the exorcists. He made Izanami into a decoy for his enemies. You want us to think he cares about any of us?”

“Believe it or not, he does.” Akatsuki answered. “The truth of the matter is that it’s irrelevant whether or not you agree with Osamu’s plan. We’ve already set everything up so that you can’t defy him.

“If you hate him and his plan so much, why did you all come back to Moonglow Castle? It’s because Moonglow and Minavere are the only two places that are safe, and that’s because Osamu made them safe for you. We’ve got you right where we want you and you can’t do anything about it.”

“So that’s it, huh?” Yoko hissed. “You bastards murder Aika and her family, doom the entire world, and then trap us here? What comes next?”

Akatsuki sat back and closed her eyes. “By the time you’re allowed to leave, the world will be made anew. It will all be just as Osamu wants. Considering that Osamu has gone through the trouble of keeping you all safe, I think it’s fair that I ask you for one favor in return.”

“And what’s that?” Amatsuki asked.

With a smile on her face, Akatsuki raised her left hand and pointed her index finger at Taeko.

“What the hell do you want with me?” Taeko asked.

“There’s been an incident in Minavere.” Akatsuki said. “Osamu will need the help of the Yakutsk lords to get out of it. I ask that you come back to Minavere with me.”

“This is about Johan Sommers, isn’t it?” Taeko questioned. “Carmilla warned us that there would be opposition once we put Hima on the throne. Now that opposition has formed a political bloc that Osamu can’t simply kill off or manipulate.”

“I see you’ve been eavesdropping.” Akatsuki said.

Taeko crossed her arms. “If he can’t convince the people of Minavere that this genocide is the right thing to do, then maybe Osamu deserves to lose his place as their king.”

“Drop the tough act, Taeko.” Akatsuki retorted. “You’ve already seen what Osamu’s capable of. You don’t really have a choice in the matter. Asking for your permission is more of a formality than anything else.”

“You’re threatening to have me brainwashed into helping him if I refuse.” Taeko said.

Akatsuki nodded, then aimed her deadpan glare back at Taeko. “Absolutely. Like I said, you don’t really have a choice in the matter. You can’t hope to win in a fight against us either. We’re not kids anymore, and we’ve already shown you we won’t hold back, not even against your children.

“Don’t forget, Taeko, Omagatoki and I were the ones that saved your life. We’re the ones that dragged you out of those catacombs and brought you here. I won’t ask you to do this for Osamu, but considering you’re alive because of us, I think it’s fair that I cash in on the favors you owe me.”

Taeko stood from her seat with a heavy sigh. She balled her fists in rage, for there was nothing she could do. Osamu and the Shoku Twins successfully stacked the deck against Taeko and the others. Throughout her extraordinary life, Taeko had always been able to get herself out of any situation, even managing to fool some of the strongest gods in the Shinto pantheon.

This time, however, she had no cards to play. The mere threat posed by Osamu’s bloodcraft meant she couldn’t deny Akatsuki’s command. She had gone from Osamu’s ally to his prisoner and lapdog.

“Taeko…” Yoko fretted.

Taeko laid her hand on Yoko’s shoulder, giving her a comforting nod. “It’s okay. I’ll go willingly.”

“Damn you…” Shinju growled.

Akatsuki stood from her seat and opened her arms to Taeko. A smug smile blossomed across her face, but her eyes burned with a fiery disdain. “I’m glad we could see eye-to-eye on this, Taeko.”

Taeko approached Akatsuki with a terrifying, murderous glare. The grandfather clock standing against the left wall of the bedroom ticked away each passing second as Taeko and Akatsuki entered a silent standoff. Each second passed as slowly as sap down a tree. It felt like hours had passed before Taeko finally opened her arms and embraced Akatsuki.

“Hurt him and we’ll kill everyone in this room.” Akatsuki whispered into her ear.

With a bright smile on her face, Akatsuki pulled away from Taeko and opened the bedroom door. Her whispered threat sapped the color from Taeko’s face and turned her tongue into stone. She couldn’t speak another word to the girls as she sauntered out of the room alongside Akatsuki, who shut the door behind her.

“Let’s go.” Akatsuki ordered, her sweet tone replaced by a monotone austerity.

With no choice left to her, Taeko marched behind Akatsuki like a slave led by her master, all to save the man who betrayed her trust. At that same moment in Minavere, Johan walked through Room 1313’s sliding door at long last. He pinched his ushanka and lifted it off his head of light blonde hair as he entered the conference room.

“Lord Hima. Lord Osamu. Thank you for your invitation.” Johan said, bowing his head.

“Thank you for arriving on time.” Hima said, a cordial smile on her face. “Your punctuality is appreciated. Please, have a seat.”

Johan took off his white, fur coat and adjusted the black tie around the collar of his dress shirt. He draped his coat over the backrest of his seat, standing with his hands on his hips as he stared at Osamu and Hima with awe.

Johan’s nostrils widened as he sniffed the air in the room. “Two incredible scents. You truly are Dracula’s descendant, Hima. And you have the blood of a goddess within you, Osamu.”

“Our claim to the throne is legitimate, as you can sense.” Hima said.

Johan sat down in his seat with his back straight and his hands clasped upon the desk. “A demi-god king and a human in the ranks of the Yakutsk lords. These are quite extraordinary times.”

“You must mean Taeko Akiyama.” Hima said.

Johan nodded. “A well-respected captain of the Senkumo clan, an infamously cunning leader, and the only human capable of fooling both the Japanese Exorcist Program and the Shinto pantheon. Her pedigree is nothing special, but the woman has carved a colossal legacy for herself. I’m not surprised there was no opposition to making her a lord, despite being a human.

“Anyone would be thrilled at the state of affairs right now. It’s like a dream come true. However…there’s quite a large elephant in the room.”

“Yeah. There sure is.” Osamu said, his hands clasped in his lap.

“Osamu, I think I’ve already made my stance on this issue very clear. My constituents and I strongly oppose this genocide. It’s deeply immoral, unsettling, and monstrous. Your solution is far too extreme and wide-reaching. We can ensure a peaceful future for our race without resorting to mass slaughter.

“One thing that every nation needs in order to secure its future is deterrence. With the Underworld and the Shoku Twins at our disposal, we have that deterrence. We can threaten the entire world with annihilation. We can keep Minavere safe and the international balance of power in check. The world will have no choice but to listen to us, and we’ll never have to unleash this power to its full extent.”

“I refuse.” Osamu retorted. “My intent is to destroy this world. The only exceptions will be Minavere and Hima’s home at Moonglow Castle. ”

“Wow…” Johan gasped. “So you’re really going to do it. You’ll just…destroy everything? Kill everyone? What is it you hope to accomplish by committing such an extreme atrocity?”

“World peace.” Osamu answered. “I want my children to never have to fight in a global conflict again. The peace I want will last for all eternity. It can’t be achieved through deterrence and peace treaties. It’s not a document to be signed or a truce to be honored. My peace comes when the entire human race has been cut down and forced to change.”

“And you don’t believe a limited slaughter will be enough to achieve that?” Johan asked. “Have you not terrorized the world enough? Do you not think the world has gotten the message?”

Osamu’s aimed his piercing glare right into Johan’s blue eyes. “I refuse to accept a plan where the Shoku Twins need to live the rest of their lives as means to an end.”

“I agree that stopping the slaughter now will secure peace for a time.” Hima interjected. “But that peace will only last a brief while. Give mankind enough time and it will always find a way to lunge headfirst into disaster. Your idea of peace is little more than a ceasefire agreement. As time goes on, deterrence will no longer be enough to keep war at bay.”

Johan swirled the bourbon in his glass. The strong, smoky flavor stung his throat as he swallowed and put down his glass. “As I expected, we’re at an impasse. I had hoped to appeal to your base humanity, Osamu. After you two dragged this nation into your war against the Shinto pantheon, you authorized the militarization of Yakutsk’s vampire population. Correct?”

“Yeah.” Osamu said. “It was handy you guys already had a volunteer force serving as police. They’re currently being retrained and reorganized into Minavere’s armed forces. We already have over ten-thousand volunteers, many of them ardent nationalists and veterans of the Second Great Holy War. If I had to guess, there are going to be many more volunteers from the east end very soon.”

“The west end tells a different story.” Johan said.

“Yes, I heard you all wept when you learned of what we did.” Hima chuckled softly. “We give you the best opportunity our race has had in centuries and you thank us by ringing your church bells and forming a coalition to stop us.”

“Perhaps the people of the west end are not as misanthropic as you both.” Johan said, leaning forward in his chair. “The militarization of Yakutsk won’t go unnoticed.”

“I’m aware.” Osamu chimed. “That’s why, after this meeting, I will give Carmilla and Annabel orders to expel all human politicians, service members, and police officers in the city.”

“You do that, and they’ll alert the Sakha Republic to what’s happening here.” Johan retorted.

“If they manage to survive the journey across the Siberian wilds.” Osamu said.

“Besides, I’m sure the Russian state will figure it out anyway.” Hima hissed. “Or rather, someone will report in for them.”

Johan’s face darkened and wrinkled with offense, his brows sinking down towards the bridge of his nose. “What are you talking about?”

“You and several other members of your party are in direct contact with the FSB.” Hima said. “We know this to be a fact. For years, you’ve regularly reported the goings on of Yakutsk to your Russian masters. They wanted to make sure we didn’t expand our influence outside of Siberia after we helped them win the Second Chechen War. You and your party were there to keep us in check, to undermine us at every turn.

“From teaching pacifism and vampiric guilt in our schools, to refusing any legislation to establish anything more than a sub-par police force. You were there to stomp out dissent, nationalist sentiment, and support for militarization. Carmilla was able to keep our population safe at the cost of our national identity and racial unity.”

“You know…” Johan said, standing from his seat. He slowly walked towards the window to watch the shifting, emerald lights of the aurora borealis covering Yakutsk. “I was once like you, Hima. I served your father when he fought to establish the old country, and I served again during the Second Great Holy War. He was a monumental figure. He challenged the world and accomplished the deeds he did like it was his destiny.

“He was our Taeko Akiyama. He won the loyalty of his people because he fought for their wellbeing, for their future. But somewhere along the way, he yearned for much more than that. His ambitions grew too large, you see. He had dreams of vampires being able to walk across every continent, sail every sea, climb every mountain, and be revered by every race on earth. The only way to accomplish something like that is to conquer the world.

“If you had been alive to serve during the Second Great Holy War, you would’ve shared my revulsion. The rapes, the killings, the erasure of entire cultures and peoples, it had nothing to do with securing our race’s future, and everything to do with his hatred of mankind. He wanted to prove humanity wrong and show them that we were not to be mistreated like we were at the hands of the church.

“The scary thing is, none of my comrades felt that what they were doing was right. That wasn’t it at all. It was that they felt they were doing something wrong if they showed any mercy. That was when I realized that Dracula’s ambitions had gone too far. In the end, he learned that lesson the hard way. He was no match for Izanami’s curse, nor did he expect Amaterasu to have reorganized the Shinto pantheon as efficiently as she did.

“Everything I have done during my time here in Yakutsk has been to keep what little remains of my race from destroying itself again. It was our blind hatred and dogmatism that nearly led to our extinction. Our self-exile here in these frozen wastelands is penance for what we did to the world.

“But you…you would incite the same ideology that corrupted your father. Here we are, yet again, committing an unbelievably heinous crime against humanity. Why? Because you’ve tricked people into thinking you can correct genocide with genocide? You would paint our past crimes as acts of heroism and have our children dance upon the bones of the human race to celebrate it.”

Hima stood from her seat, her fingers outstretched upon the desk. “If you truly were a loyal soldier to my father, you would know that he didn’t seek to rule this world for his own sake, nor for his people. He did it for me. He worked and toiled for my sake before I was born into this world. He wanted me to see all this world had to offer, to walk every continent and sail every sea without the fear of being killed or tortured for who I am.

“We deserve to exist. We deserve to draw breath from this world. My parents’ work is undone, but now I can finally finish it in their honor. It won’t just be for me or my race. It will be for my children and their children, because they have done nothing wrong! They deserve to live and love in this world! If it were up to you, you’d have them inherit nothing but permafrost and guilt, all because of your own regrets from the war!”

“Your regrets are not their regrets. Your shame is not their shame. Your burdens are not theirs to bear. You and your ilk can’t accept that. It would mean you’d have to carry all of it by yourselves while the next generation remained free from it all. I will not let you or anyone enslave them with guilt.”

Johan smiled, shaking his head as he stared into his reflection in his glass of bourbon. “You really have inherited your father’s spirit. It feels like I’m talking to him right now. It’s actually kind of scary. So, I guess this means we won’t be changing each other’s minds, nor reaching an acceptable compromise.”

“I stand with Hima on this.” Osamu said. “And as I said earlier, I refuse to stop the genocide.”

“Fine.” Johan sighed. “Strange how two people who love their race so much can end up being enemies. If you really want to carry on with this madness, then I will stop at nothing to remove you from your thrones. The people are not united on this issue. Many of them refuse to be a part of this atrocity. As such, my party will pass a motion for a referendum. We will ask for the people’s blessing to remove you two and elect a popular leader in your place.”

Hima’s cheeks bloated with joy as she laughed. She plopped down in her seat, pinching the bridge of her nose. “That’s amazing, a pacifist threatening us with revolution.”

“It’s far more likely than you’d believe.” Johan said in a dry tone. “Even your most faithful supporters will start having second thoughts as the destruction gets closer to our border. Once the smoke and ash from Russia are blown in our direction, the gravity of their decision will truly dawn on them. The key to winning any political battle is optics, how the public sees and perceives things.”

Johan grabbed his coat from the backrest of his seat. “Lord Hima, Lord Osamu, it was an honor, but if I save the world from you two, it will be the greatest honor of my life.”

“That’s right.” Osamu growled, his eyes locking with Johan’s. “If.”

With his line drawn in the sand, Johan put on his coat and barged out the door. He would fight tooth and nail for his beliefs, while Osamu and Hima would fight for theirs. And so began the most important battle of the Third Great Holy War, more so than the battles Kyoto and Fukuoka. It would be a battle for the soul of Minavere, the future of its people, and the future of the world itself.