Ronin's Revenge

Orochi snaked around the palace, enjoying the corporeal body of the once emperor Hiro. While it was true that it held its own form eons ago, it lost it in a fight to Susanoo and dwelled in Yomi as an ethereal concept. Nevertheless, it was capable of rallying the other demons to its cause with promises of tragedy and misfortune to the humans who failed to appreciate the value of the living world. It charmed them as a vile snake would.

With the combined might of all the imps, amikiri, kappa, and others, Orochi was able to tear a rift in reality, through time and space, and escaped into Japan. There, it was reborn as a serpent. Slick and slippery, it slithered its way about for a short while, unaware of its next step. Reflecting on the state of the invasion, however, it understood that not only did it need to stand as the leader of the demons since it acted as their rallying voice, but also that it simply desired more power.

Being the lord over the demons was valuable and satisfying, sure, yet control over the land of humans was a conquest too tempting to ignore. It considered possessing the shogun as that would infer more political prowess, but that was too far a journey to make as the invasion had already started. And so, it found his way to the imperial palace. Forgoing a demonic escort, it quite easily crawled through a crack in the front gate. Slinking across the courtyard, where Ryoma and Goro slept, it made his way into the palace proper.

Orochi felt entangled in a spider’s web as it attempted to traverse the maze-like structure of the palace’s interior. Bemusing as it was, though, the demon snake had as much time as it needed since no one was aware of its presence. And, in time, it found its way to the emperor’s bed chamber. Surprisingly, though, only the empress was present.

Slinking further down the hall, Orochi came across the emperor’s chamber pot and, sure enough, there sat Hiro. The serpent chuckled to itself, finding its target so vulnerable. Wasting no time, it lunged forward. Hiro barely had time to realize what was happening before Orochi careened into his agape mouth. It crammed itself further down the emperor’s throat. Its reptilian form fizzled out as its essence fused with the poor human.

Taking over Hiro’s mind proved to be quite the simple task. Given that he was groggy and half-asleep, his ability to fight back mentally was too impaired to make a difference. Within an instant, Orochi became the emperor. The guards surrounding him didn’t know how to react, so it easily knocked them unconscious.

Orochi moved to a window in the hallway and looked out into the night. Its subordinates began moving their way through the crack in the wall. It outstretched a hand and beckoned them forward. They hurried along across the courtyard and two onryo, vengeful spirits, found their way to Orochi’s side. Taking over the unconscious guards handily, the trio moved to the throne room.

Enjoying their stay, Orochi and the two lesser demons were visited by Ryoma Amami. They had their fun with him, keeping up appearances and feigning concern for the samurai. Eventually, though, it became more entertaining to rip away the façade and torture him mentally, to watch his very soul break. And finally, when he outlived his comedic appeal, Orochi sought to dispose of him using poison. The poor samurai then was kicked out of a window to drown in the nearby river. It supposed that might actually be a preferable way to die as opposed to the toxin he was injected with.

Three days later, however, Orochi’s bubble would be burst. An amikiri entered the throne room to request court with the faux emperor. “Speak.” It said. The lesser demon said, “My lord, I fear I bring troubling news.” Orochi smiled and said, “Dear demon, I’ve taken the emperor’s throne and the land is in ruins thanks to our kind. What possible news could you have to deter my mirth?”

“Well,” the lesser demon said, “I came to report that the samurai who fell from the window is still alive.” Orochi perked up and asked, “Do you mean Ryoma? How could that be possible?” It wasn’t irate over the news, per say, more so perplexed and amused by the revelation.

“Yes,” the lesser demon said, “I overheard him say that his name was Ryoma. You see, I followed his body down the river and into a nearby tool shed.” Orochi held up a hand to stop the lesser demon and asked, “And did you not think to try and possess him while he was in a weakened state? That seems to be an obvious strategy.”

“Well,” the lesser demon continued, “I would have, but he was being guarded by a kappa, my lord.” This time, a trifling smidge of anger came into Orochi’s being. “A kappa?” It asked. “Did you say a kappa is assisting him? I can’t fathom why a fellow demon would be helping a mortal, especially after all I did to free them from Yomi. That’s more than a quaint peculiarity.”

The lesser demon shirked away from Orochi’s small, spiteful disposition, but Orochi could sense there was more and said, “Continue, amikiri.” The lesser demon said, “Well, my lord, it’s no regular kappa. I saw that some sort of talisman is infused within its chest.”

“A talisman?” Orochi asked, feigning interest. “And pray tell, what sort of parlor tricks might this kappa be capable of doing now?” The lesser demon sensed Orochi calming itself and felt better about talking in front of it. The amikiri said, “Oh, it has bestowed the ability to manipulate ice to the kappa.”

Orochi’s blood then ran cold, even for a snake, as it realized the amikiri was describing one of the legendary ofuda. It didn’t want to admit, but the mystic powers of the ofuda intimidated it so. It’d heard of their connection to the power of the gods themselves. As such, it shuddered at the thought of facing such absolute power.

However, Orochi didn’t want its subordinates to see its distress, so it simply forced a smile and said, “I see. That shouldn’t be anything to worry about. If that’s all, then you are dismissed.” The lesser demon bowed and floated away, and Orochi internally groaned at the news.

The next day, the palace was invaded by samurai from the shogun’s faction. They were on a mission to ensure the emperor’s safety, and while Orochi laughed at their futile mission and put them to death by poison, watching them writhe in agony before succumbing to the toxin didn’t soothe its nerves as it thought that would. In truth, it was still anxious about a full assault from the shogunate as it wasn’t sure of the abilities of its own subordinates.

Instead of fearing for its life, Orochi decided to send a warning to the shogun preemptively in an effort to appear more congruent in power and to deter possible invasions. Still, it needed something more steadfast in ability to ensure it remained in power.

A potential answer came forward the next day as another report graced the throne room. An imp entered Orochi’s presence to present new information from the ever-changing landscape across Japan. “I bring news of a powerful human.” The imp said. “He slays mortals as well as demons. His name is Koichi Hanamura.” Orochi cocked its borrowed head and asked, “Did you say he slays mortals as well?” The imp nodded, to which Orochi laughed and exclaimed, “That’s perfect! If we can convince him to cease his slaughter of demons on our side, then we could recruit him to our cause and slay Ryoma, the kappa, and the shogun’s forces, too! He’ll be the answer to our total conquest!”

Orochi immediately sent for a messenger amikiri to deliver the option for an alliance to Koichi. It sat back in its stolen throne, relieved at the new information, and readied itself to meet with the beast of a human.