Denial, Blood of The Fae

Raven groaned as he woke up, the sense of exhaustion actually hitting him, and he didn't like it, so he created a mug of coffee, but the strength of it was enough to kill an elephant with a single drop.

He downed it all immediately.

Then he let the memories come flying in and groaned.

If he was honest, he counted this as one of his biggest mistakes in life so far. One of the few regrets he had and will ever have in life.

"I hate myself." He groaned and teleported himself into the underworld. He let himself fall onto a couch and just sat there, Hades or Persephone would come to him when they had a moment.

In the meantime he laid there and thought about what happened.

If he momentarily forgot about the problem with Izzy… Izanami, he could groan about the fact he's missing more memories then he thought he was.

He knew he was missing a good chunk of memories from his younger days, but beyond small detail, he didn't know what happened during those blanks in his memories, not even rituals or divine intervention could bring them back, it just caused spiritual pain to him.

He was in Japan, Tokyo to be specific, for some time, but that's all he knows. Then he spent sometime in America, those memories are fully lost to him, he only knows because something feels familiar in America. He's not sure what. Then a bit of time in Iraq. That last one confused him.

"Raven." Persephone's voice said in the same soft motherly tone as always, and it only made him wish more that his mom was here. She would-

He cut those thoughts off, he didn't need to spiral or build a image of her in his head and have it crushed if they ever met.

"Persephone." He greeted and she cooed as she sat besides him and just hugged him. A mother knows apparently.

"I did something stupid and mean." Raven admitted.

"Notning new, but this time you feel different. You're upset you did that this time." She said and he nodded.

"Yes, I had an encounter with a dementor up close and personal. Pretty sure I almost lost my soul." He admitted and he could feel her fury and worry spike tremendously, he could also feel Hades energy spike in his throne room, he must be listening in.

"It didn't get me, it was close, dragging many memories and emotions I'm not quite comfortable revisiting all at once, and something was different, something I didn't expect." Raven paused as he frowned more and a hatred filled laugh, at himself, escaped his mouth.

"My cat appeared and tried fighting the dementor." He said and she held him tighter thinking his cat died.

Another laugh escaped.

"My cat changed forms, into a woman. My cats a freeloader! That's not even the worst of it either, my cat isn't any freeloader, no, my freeloader cat is a freaking divine freeloading cat goddess! Izzy the cat is Izanami the freeloading cat goddess of death!" He complained and Persephone sighed.

This was his luck.

"It sounds like you more have an issue with her freeloading then anything else." She noted and he grumbled.

"Maybe. I need time to process this, can you tell me the story of Izanami?" Raven asked and Persephone smiled softly and nodded as she pulled his head into her lap and gently ran her fingers through his hair.

"I supposed it all started at Genesis. From somewhere came the original ones. Chaos, Yahweh and many others. On the side of Shintoism, the kotoamatsukami created. Five elder beings who were said to once be one being. They created Takamagahara. Then they created two more beings. Izanagi and Izanami."

"The five beings were fragile in their existence, more powerful then most beings will ever comprehend, but still fragile, after all, they were once one being split into five. So they did one last thing. They created a single spear to assist in creation of Japan."

"The Amenonuhoko. Also known as Ame-no-Noboko. A jeweled spear. Together the siblings stired the primordial sea with the spear, and the salty brine dripping from it solidified into land."

"I won't bore you with a bunch of more millenia of story, but time passed and they created a bunch of other divine beings. However upon birthing their last child, Kagutsuchi, Izanami was fatally injured. From her dying body some Kami were born, from Izanagi's tears more Kami were born. In a fit of madness, Izanagi cut Kagutsuchi into eight pieces, creating eight volcanos. From his body eight more Kami were born. His blood on the sword used and on the nearby rocks created eight more Kami."

Raven wasn't sure that he couldn't relate to Izanagi in that moment. If his wife whom he spent millenia with, died, he wouldn't be sure he could handle his rage. He hopes he never has to learn if that's true or not.

"As a deity bound in creation and the Shinto cosmology, Izanami was reborn in Yomi, the Shinto underworld. Eventually Izanagi ventured into Yomi to find his wife, traversed the darkness and blindness. He found her, however Izanami had eaten the food of the death realm and it would be hard pressed for her to leave, so the two ventured to the underworld Kami to assist in her leaving."

"They agreed, however a deal was made. For the entire trip back, Izanagi couldn't look at Izanami. However eventually he couldn't stop himself and lit his comb on fire, he saw his wife, her appearance was that of a rotting corpse. So he abandoned her and ran. Izanami sent the underworld Kami after him."

"To make a long part short, they reached the exit, Izanagi sealed the exit with a bolder. Izanami swore to kill 1,000 people daily, Izanagi promised to ensure 1,500 people were born daily. They dissolved their marriage. Izanagi bathed and cleaned himself, from that 23 kami were born, alongside the three precious children of the Shinto cosmology, Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi and Susano'o. Eventually at some point Izanagi just disappeared."

"Izanami eventually regained her original living appearance when she escaped Yomi with the assistance of another underworld deity. While she still rules Yomi with a iron fist, she doesn't like to stay inside of Yomi constantly. So she travels the world, apparently as a cat whom you took in." Persephone finished and Raven frowned.

He felt bad for his cat. She was still his cat no matter what. He didn't want another animal to bond with, he wanted his cat. His Izzy.

"I need to go and think." Raven said and disappeared to his workshop. He needed somewhere private to think.

•~~~~•

"and that's what happened." Raven finished to his therapist.

"I see. Well I think that you do care for Izanami, a great deal so, possessively. You aren't angry about her being a goddess, no, you're upset at learning she either didn't trust you with that information, that you didn't figure it out yourself, or that perhaps, you are trying to project something to hide how you feel, so you are using this situation to act out." The therapist said and he glared at them and sighed.

"You're probably right, no, you're definitely right. I am trying to use the situation to act out. What do you recommend I do?"

"Let yourself calm down and think rationally, then seek out Izanami and have a conversation with her. Talk with her about everything." They said and Raven nodded.

"Good idea. I'll try that." Raven said and disappeared leaving behind a gold bar.

"How am I supposed to trade this in without the local authorities asking questions?" They asked and a note appeared with a location written on, a goblin ran bank in the area that accepted gold trades.

•~~~~•

Raven let a quiet hum out as he tinkered with a bit of metal and gems, slowly chapping it into a crown. He just wanted something cool to wear and he felt like a crown was his next accessory.

It was made out of dawn metal, painted a golden color. Large blue oval gems were used alongside a combination of small round black gems to complement the blue and gold colors.

It turned out quite nice. He even managed to add some cool runes to it, nothing fancy, just basic cool ones.

Nigh indestructible. Repairing. Glowing. Floating. Returning.

So basically he could chuck the crown at sometime like a frisbee, it would smack them in the head while also glowing like a sun, and then return and float above his head, because style points.

[image]

•~~~~•~~~~•~~~~•

Double chapters baby!

Till next time, hope you enjoyed!

Bye~

-Voidy, The Insomniac