A Journey Unwanted

[Realm: Álfheimr]

[Location: Heart Kingdom]

[Pulchritudo]

Gretel had been half expecting the conversation to sour.

She simply had not expected it to happen so quickly.

The warmth, or rather the amusement, that usually lingered within Echidna’s emerald eyes gradually disappeared. The monster’s pupils narrowed to thin slits as she regarded the oni before her with hostility.

The bustling streets of Pulchritudo continued around them, oblivious to the tension steadily thickening between two beings.

"Hoho..." Echidna’s laugh was soft, though it held no humour whatsoever. Her emerald eyes remained fixed upon Shuten-dōji, unblinking. "You possess quite the fearless tongue for someone standing before me." Her lips curved into a small smile that never reached her eyes. "Tell me, does that confidence come from knowing I am chained and far weaker than I ought to be?" She let the question linger before giving a dismissive scoff. "Or have you simply convinced yourself that my present condition makes me harmless?"

Shuten-dōji neither frowned nor stiffened.

If anything...

The smile resting upon her lips grew just a little brighter.

It was not arrogance, nor was it provocation for its own sake.

Rather, it was the smile of someone thoroughly comfortable with herself.

"I rather think my answer would remain exactly the same even if you stood before me at the height of your power," she replied calmly, her voice carrying the same confident tone. "Strength has never struck me as a sufficient reason to surrender one’s convictions." Her red eyes met Echidna’s without wavering. "Besides..." a hint of amusement slipped into her smile, "...fear is a curious thing. Most treat it as though it were a law of nature. I have always viewed it as little more than an illness of the spirit—one that can be recognised, confronted, and, eventually, cut away."

The smile vanished from Echidna’s face.

Only the coldness remained.

"Then that," she murmured, "is an extraordinarily foolish philosophy."

Her gaze slowly drifted across the streets surrounding them.

Citizens wandered from shop to shop.

Children laughed somewhere farther down the road.

Merchants called to potential customers.

None of them realised that the creature watching them had once stood at the very peak of monstrous existence.

"Weakened though I may be..." Echidna continued quietly, "...I could still reduce every last human in this city to nothing more than sustenance." Her voice remained unnervingly level. "Their screams would fade quickly enough, their lives would restore what I have lost, and before long much of my strength would return."

Her emerald eyes returned to Shuten-dōji.

"So tell me. Would your courage remain unchanged then?"

Shuten-dōji did not answer immediately.

She simply regarded Echidna with calm eyes.

When she finally spoke, her voice remained as composed as before.

"If that became your choice..." she said evenly, "...then I would simply welcome what followed."

The air between them seemed to tense.

Gretel instinctively looked from one woman to the other.

Neither had moved.

Yet somehow...

It felt as though they were already standing upon a violent battlefield.

Even the noise of the surrounding streets seemed strangely distant.

"Perhaps," Gretel began cautiously, clearing her throat in hopes of breaking the suffocating silence, "...perhaps fighting here would not be the wisest decision."

The words sounded much less confident after leaving her mouth.

Immediately...

Both pairs of eyes turned towards her.

For the briefest moment Gretel very nearly wished she had remained silent.

Few people could endure the attention of either woman.

Receiving both at once was another matter entirely.

Still, someone had to stop this before it escalated. She straightened ever so slightly despite herself.

"I don’t think..." she continued carefully, choosing each word with obvious care, "...either of you drawing even more attention to yourselves would end well. More importantly..." Her expression grew just a touch more serious. "...I have a feeling Mikoto would be very disappointed."

She paused.

"And knowing him, probably very angry as well."

That produced the reaction she had hoped for. Shuten-dōji’s expression softened into contemplation; her playful smile faded as genuine thought settled across her features.

It was not fear.

Gretel doubted Shuten-dōji feared many things, least of all another powerful individual. But she had spent enough time around the oni to recognise one thing. Shuten-dōji valued her growing relationship with Mikoto. Disappointing him served no purpose; hurting that fragile connection over a pointless confrontation would gain her nothing.

Echidna’s reaction proved different, her brow creased into a visible frown. Annoyance, reluctance, perhaps even frustration.

Unlike Shuten-dōji, Echidna’s circumstances were very different. She owed her continued existence to Mikoto. He had spared her and he had chained her. And if he ever chose otherwise, he possessed the means to take back the life he had allowed her to keep.

The Mother of Monsters clicked her tongue.

"Tch."

She turned away sharply, black hair shifting behind her as she began walking briskly down the street without another word, clearly deciding that continuing the conversation was no longer worth her time.

Gretel watched her go before letting out a breath she had not realised she had been holding.

"She really is exhausting," she murmured under her breath, rubbing lightly at her temple. "I hope not every conversation with her somehow ends with the possibility of an entire city being wiped off the map. I honestly don’t know how Mikoto manages to tolerate her as well as he does."

Besides her, Shuten-dōji chuckled quietly.

"I find that rather endearing," the oni admitted, watching Echidna’s retreating figure with a relaxed smile. "She is honest about what she is. Difficult, certainly, proud beyond reason, perhaps even insufferable." Her smile lingered. "But unpredictability has its own peculiar charm. It keeps the world from becoming dull."

Gretel stared at her for a long second.

"I can’t say I share your perspective," she replied with an exasperated sigh. "Someone casually threatening to slaughter an entire city because they were irritated doesn’t strike me as entertaining." She shook her head slowly. "If that’s your idea of fun, then I think I’ll settle for boring."

Gretel watched as Echidna disappeared farther down the street, the Mother of Monsters carrying herself with an imperious stride. Only after she was several paces away did Shuten-dōji finally move again.

"But come," Shuten-dōji said, lifting a hand in an easy gesture as she began walking forward. Her voice had returned to its usual warmth, carrying none of the edge from moments earlier. "There is little point lingering on unpleasantness. Since we must search regardless, we may as well let our eyes wander. It would be a shame to pass through a city this vast and notice nothing beyond our objective."

Gretel found herself falling into step beside the oni almost instinctively. She glanced sideways at the taller woman before speaking.

"I have to admit..." Gretel began thoughtfully, her voice quiet. "I admire how composed you remained back there. You were standing across from a Deseruit Beast Progenitor, and yet you never once hesitated. You didn’t even flinch. Most people would have been too frightened to speak."

Shuten-dōji gave a small hum, neither prideful nor dismissive.

"Well, the Mother of Monsters would undoubtedly be a fearsome opponent," she replied after a brief pause. "No sensible warrior would underestimate a being of her age or power. That would simply be arrogance." A smile tugged at her lips. "But she is not the sort of opponent who stirs caution within my heart. Powerful, certainly. Worthy of respect, without question. Yet, not the kind of adversary that leaves me truly wary."

Gretel’s silver eyes drifted toward her.

She waited patiently rather than interrupting, sensing there was more behind those words.

Shuten-dōji smiled more, noticing the silent question.

"When I was still the monster the world remembered..." she said quietly, "...when I reveled in bloodshed and had little interest in anything beyond my own amusement, there were only two individuals who ever truly captured my attention."

Her gaze lifted toward the rooftops as though looking into memories far older than anything around them.

"One of them defeated me so completely that there was nothing left to contest." She laughed softly to herself, entirely without embarrassment. "I have never found shame in admitting defeat. To deny it would simply be lying to oneself."

Her expression softened further.

"The other... was a hero." She lingered on the word. "He only barely managed to overcome me. Every exchange pushed him to his limits, and by the end I doubt either of us had much strength remaining. " Her red eyes grew distant. "Yet despite that, he left a far deeper impression upon me than the one who crushed me outright."

Gretel considered that quietly.

"I suppose..." she murmured, "...if a hero sought you out personally, then you must have been a rather terrifying villain in those days. One people prayed someone would stop."

Shuten-dōji glanced toward her, amusement alight across her face.

"You seem considerably less disturbed by that admission than I expected," she observed. "Most people hear that I once stood opposite heroes and immediately begin wondering how many lives I ruined before I changed."

Gretel lowered her eyes for a moment.

"I don’t think..." she began slowly, carefully choosing her words, "...that I’m in any position to pass judgment on another person’s past. Not ever." Her grip shifted slightly against the sheath of her rapier. "There was a time when I did things I’m not proud of either. Things I’d rather never repeat. So it would feel hypocritical for me to condemn someone else while pretending my own hands have always been clean."

She looked back up at the oni.

"And besides..." A small, genuine smile appeared. "The person walking beside me now doesn’t strike me as someone cruel. You’re patient and thoughtful. You even try to understand people." She tilted her head slightly. "So, have you truly managed to change?"

"I believe I have," Shuten-dōji answered without hesitation.

There was no triumph in her voice.

"But change..." she continued after a brief silence, "...is not the same thing as erasure. Becoming a better person does not undo those who suffered because of the person I used to be. It cannot restore lives, nor can it ask the past to forgive itself."

A small breath escaped her.

"So for someone like me, redemption is not something I chase anymore. I neither expect forgiveness nor believe I am owed it." Her eyes wandered across the bustling streets of Pulchritudo. "All I can truly do is continue walking forward. If I have become someone different, then that difference must be shown through my actions, not proclaimed through my words."

Her smile returned, smaller than before.

"So, I simply wander."

Gretel did not answer immediately.

The conversation had grown far heavier than she expected.

She had grown accustomed to Shuten-dōji’s playful teasing, her easy laughter, and the confidence she carried. Hearing the oni speak with such honesty felt strangely unfamiliar. For the first time since they had met, Gretel found herself wondering about the oni’s history.

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