Chapter 8: Kanna

Another yellow lightning bolt zipped past her head, striking a tree directly to Kanna’s right. She was waiting for the slightest bit of sound from Izanami before making her move. She stayed still, using the patience she had drilled into herself over the years and putting it to good use. She could distinguish the difference from the wind rustling the leaves and the sound of Izanami’s clothes swaying in the breeze.

She stopped moving, Kanna concluded. She slowly careened her head around the right side of the tree trunk and saw nothing. Looking over to the other side, she expected the goddess to be right in her face, only to see more of the same. Kanna then listened for Goro’s struggle from outside the forest. When she heard nothing, she sat down, her back still against the tree and squinted through the branches until she saw him. He was just sitting up in the sky, cross legged and watching the forest from above. Kanna clicked her tongue.

That’s going to lose you some points, she thought. But remembered that he liked Kanna, not Hanabi Ryu. She felt a twinge of disappointment in that, but understood why. He probably just sees me as his arch nemesis in this form, Kanna thought. Then again, I should probably be feeling the same way. She reflected on all of her interactions with the real Goro, Kaiyo Omo. When she first became a magical girl, Ayako and the others all explained to her who he was and to not be afraid of him. Even now that lesson helped her keep a level head. Especially now that her friends have retired.

Kaiyo Omo would always cause a disturbance, and Kanna, with Trimy’s help, would always be there to stop him. To her knowledge, she couldn’t recall a time when she flat out hated Kaiyo Omo and his goons for friends. Because to her, the more dangerous they got, the more confident and prepared Kanna and her friends became.

That time they called a tsunami to sink japan, the other time when they almost took complete control of Tokyo and made it their base, and even when they summoned a kaiju in America, it was never something we couldn’t fix. Kanna smiled a little and stole one more glance at Goro yawning in the sky. I don’t think it bothered them either. No matter how many times we beat them, they would always return the next week with some other master plan for us to thwart. And then there’s people like her…

“So what do you get for playing causality’s game, Momo-Chan?” Izanami asked, her voice echoing through the trees. “Is it status, influence? If you let me go, I’ll make you a goddess capable of ruling all of Japan!” Another lightning bolt crackled, but this one was way off the mark, striking a tree branch five trees to Kanna’s left.

I wish I could say I’ve met people like her before, but honestly, I still don’t think I can fully comprehend her being Izanami, Kanna thought. Her knowledge of the deity Izanami had always left her with the impression that she was some kind of decaying corpse. But the truth was that she was beyond beautiful. Plus there’s all this talk about causality. What does that have to do with me?

“No?” Izanami spoke up again. The echo of her voice was too displaced to pinpoint it to a single spot. “Or perhaps you are one of those self-righteous fools who simply do what they are told?”

Kanna had her scarf wrapped tight around her arm and a firecracker from Yui’s firecracker scroll in her left hand. But she waited to ignite it, not wanting to light it prematurely. She was waiting for the next lightning bolt to fire when she heard the sound of a cloth rustling behind her tree.

She jumped away, dropping the firecracker to the ground and straightening her scarf back into a sword to cut the tree in two. When Kanna saw no one, she ran further into the forest, spotting Izanami running side by side with her.

“There you are!” Izanami laughed, snapping her fingers with an extended hand. The lightning sparked and shot out from her fingertips, only to miss, arching just over Kanna’s head. Her sword still in hand, Kanna swung at Izanami and cut off a few strands of long black hair. The hair burst into flames upon touching the ground. The fire was white hot, and forced Kanna to shield her eyes while Izanami charged through it. She opened her arms and brought them together and clapped. Kanna had only a moment before then to reach into her kimono and attach the rocket wings to her ankles. The clap caused an explosion of lightning just like her snaps, engulfing Izanami and the trees around her, charring them black within a circle of destruction. Kanna had escaped to the edge of the explosion, as the last of the lightning dissipated right before her face.

“Impressive,” Izanami commented. “Those weapons of your’s are magnificent. A tool for every situation.” Kanna returned to her kendo stance as they stared at each other. “Now, I would like an answer to my question, Momo-Chan,” Izanami continued. “What is your reason for playing causality’s game?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kanna answered. Izanami, however, put on that disappointed face again, and pointed at Kanna.

“Liar,” Izanami sang. “I am a goddess, Momo-Chan. I can still see through a human’s soul.”

“I think you just see what you want to see,” Kanna said. Stepping forward, the speed that Hana’s rocket wings brought her closer than Izanami could predict, forcing her to block it. Lightning coursed through Izanami’s hands, keeping the sword from connecting with her wrists. Kanna pressed down, forcing Izanami to kneel before forcing the sword to the side. Kanna relaxed for a moment, the sword becoming a scarf once again, and curved up diagonally, missing the goddess by a hair as the scarf became a curved sword. She slashed continuously at Izanami until she readied another thunder clap.

Kanna dashed back, which was her mistake. Izanami got the space she needed, and in so doing, stopped before the clap and extended her arms, snapping with both hands. The lightning shot straight this time, but Kanna was only able to escape one of the bolts, while the other struck her right arm.

The jolt of electricity that ran through her arm made it twitch and loosen her two handed grip on her sword. Wrapping her scarf back around her neck, Kanna grabbed Yui’s firecracker scroll again. Izanami leaped forward, attempting to grab at Kanna’s neck, just as Kanna pulled off and ignited one firecracker. It was no bigger than her finger, but Kanna let it go off in front of her. The firecracker exploded, spreading out and above the forest, missing Izanami again.

“Nearly, Momo-Chan,” Izanami said, with little flames of red fire eating away at the hems of her yukata. Pulling up a rotting sleeve, Izanami ran her nails along the skin of her arm. The lightning that seemed to conduct became strands that she gripped and straightened into a spear of pure lightning. “Shall we continue?” She asked, and Kanna was happy to oblige. Whipping her scarf back into a sword, Kanna lunged just as Izanami did and clashed baldes.

Kanna’s standard kendo fighting style had to change to a more freeform style as she struggled to keep up with Izanami’s skill with her spear. But it was all that more of a challenge as she pressured Izanami further back into the forest. Kanna switched between using her scarf as a wrapping to deflect the lightning spear and reshaping it to a straight and curved sword. Her unpredictable pattern of attack had finally caught up with Izanami, and was forcing the goddess to dodge more than block.

“I see,” Izanami said, swinging her spear so hard that the lightning it was made of bent, delaying its strike and gaining some distance from Kanna. “You are not just a pawn of causality, you live for it!”

Kanna felt a twinge of guilt, but forced it down, trying to focus on the fight.

“It’s no wonder that you harbor so little malice for the monster,” Izanami said, referring to Goro. “You don’t find him a threat at all. In fact, you find the monster more enjoyable than the person underneath!”

“Shut up!” Kanna disagreed. She sweeped under Izanami with a kick, but she jumped and attacked from above.

“Even now you’re enjoying yourself,” Izanami stated, as Kanna blocked. “You love being a magical girl, you enjoy using all your tricks and resources to push yourself, and because of this…” Izanami let up on Kanna, giving her a moment to run, only to follow her and strike her in the back. “You fail to see the reality that causality is keeping from you. That the world is unfair, and nothing more.”

The spear shocked Kanna to the core. Her sense of up and down was flipped for all but a minute before her sporadic shaking hand found the firecracker scroll, and pulled two sticks from the scroll and threw them.

Two explosions sounded to her right and left, giving Kanna the time she needed to focus and regain control of her body. When she had, she spotted the goddess poised and ready to strike the moment the flames died out. And just as Kanna was preparing to do the same, she noticed the firecracker she had dropped earlier, right at Izanami’s feet. Tossing her scarf into the air, Kanna willed it to take the shape of a spear and threw it. And just as Kanna had guessed, Izanami made no effort to dodge what she thought wouldn’t hit her. The scarf went limp and became a scarf again as it struck the dirt. What she failed to notice was the firecracker, and the magic within the scarf to ignite it.

The red flames enveloped the space around Izanami, and she fell out of them covered in red fire. The forest was unburnt as Izanami stumbled away, her back to Kanna. The pain had become so much that even her screams couldn’t express the anguish that tears alone could convey.

I didn’t quite get her, Kanna noticed. She grabbed her scarf from the ground and readied to strike when she heard the goddess weep quietly on the floor. The small painful voice persisted as the fire blistered and melted her skin. Kanna stayed her hand, watching the goddess shake as she tripped over, failing to put out the flames with the dirt. That guilt from before returned to Kanna. The truth that she enjoyed her life as a magical girl, and the disregard for the individuals she fought against.

What if she’s like Goro? Kanna thought. A monster who wants a normal life? She lifted her hand and extinguished the flames with a single command.

“Fade,” Kanna said, and the flames died out, as the goddess’ sobbing stopped. Izanami sat up, confused as Kanna approached her slowly. “You were asking before why I do this,” Kanna started, certain of what to say. “It’s because I wish to learn more about myself.” Izanami watched cautiously as Kanna walked around to face her. “And right now I wish to understand people like you and Goro, not just as people, but as monsters too.” Kanna forced herself to look at Izanami, her skin was healing, but the description she had read of her from the stories held true. The flames had revealed a horrific face that even a god would run away from, but not her. Kanna extended a hand to the grotesque, skeletal goddess, as her beauty returned and healed.

“I… Believe you,” Izanami said, and Kanna smiled at that. But Izanami’s grip trapped Kanna’s hand as she swung her into a tree. The impact expelled the air out of Kanna’s lungs. She koffed and weezed, clutching her sides as Izanami stood over her, disappointed and disgusted.

“Truly, I do believe that you think you can understand. Unfortunately, there is a key difference between me and that squid,” Izanami explained. “He is a monster, and I am a demon. And that is something you will have to die with.” Izanami raised her spear and struck. Kanna rolled out of the way and used a tree to stand up. Izanami let her, and watched as Kanna reached into her kimono to pull out the candle cannon.

“My, my, where were you hiding that?” she asked, immused again as Kanna took aim at her with it. Izanami readied her strike, and Kanna, her hand on the cannon’s trigger, all before she noticed an emptiness build from within, as she felt the spark fade from her heart.

“No, no, no! Not right now!” Kanna said, her kimono reverting back to her black sweater and blue pants. And her armaments became heavy and unusable. Kanna dropped the cannon to the ground and tore off another firecracker from the scroll and threw it. Izanami flinched as the stick of fireworks failed to ignite. But more than that, Izanami was curious as to what she was seeing. Her eyes were wide with amusement, as Kanna ran away from her.

This is the worst possible timing! Kanna thought. She felt sluggish and weak. With every step she took she could feel her strength leave her as she ran. Wrapping her scarf around her neck again, she glanced back at Izanami, watching her. “She’s not chasing me?”

“So there is a limit to your power,” Kanna heard Izanami’s voice next to her. “And I was beginning to think you were all powerful.” Kanna blinked and the goddess was gone and appeared in front of her. Izanami studied Kanna before grabbing her by the neck and lifting her above her head. Kanna struggled to loosen her grip, but Izanami only gradually tightened her hand on Kanna. Kanna kicked the goddess, tried to twist her arm, but nothing worked.

“Perhaps I overestimated you,” Izanami said. “I’ll take that!” Izanami pulled the scarf off of Kanna’s neck and started swinging it, changing it into all sorts of weapons that Kanna had never thought to use. “You can keep the rest,” the goddess told her. “This one will be enough to deal with the squid.” Izanami looked into Kanna’s eyes one final time before letting her go, and snapping her fingers at her chest. Lightning struck Kanna’s heart, and for a brief moment, she saw time slow down before her.

“Don’t cry,” Izanami told her, setting Kanna down against a tree. “I’ll make sure that you are not alone in the afterlife.” And as Kanna watched her walk away, her eyes saw only darkness.