Warnings: Major Character Death (later on) and Betrayal, though there will be happy endings all around!

It had been one year since the adventure to the mortal plane, at least that's how long it had been here who knows how long it had really been, for time moved differently in the celestial plane. She missed everything about the mortal world. The food, the new and kind people, the food, the excitement of traveling and freedom to do what she pleased, did she mention the the food? Amaterasu used her kimono sleeve to wipe at her chin and quietly cleared her throat to compose herself. She wasn't imagining eating 's special cherry cakes, no sir-ee.

Amaterasu, or Ammy, as she was fondly nicknamed by Issun, was currently lounging in the branches of an old willow that hung over the palace courtyard's pond. It was bath day, when Nuregami grabbed every god and goddess, even some of the servants and visitors of the palace, and threw them into the bath. Every Sunday it was the same thing over and over again, most of the brush gods and servants now used to her behavior obliged with her demands, though some refused. Gekigami was easily embarrassed and stubborn, being about the same age as a mortal male teen, not to mention that his fur stood on end from built up static electricity after a bath. Kabegami, the same age as a child, did not want to waste play time taking a bath.

Then there was, Ammy, she hated taking baths, the artificial smell of the oils of the bath bothered her, the oil would cling to her hair and fur, and weigh it down, making her feel uncomfortable. She didn't care if it was to make her skin healthy and pretty, a soak in a hot spring would do the same thing.

Ammy sighed, looking down into her reflection below. She was already very pretty, easily more fair than Otohime and dear late Himiko combined. After cleaning up the mess of the celestial plane, getting rid of any evil presence still lingering and freeing survivors, they rebuilt the old government and palace to their former glory.

Upon doing so, she and the brush gods were once again back at full power allowing them to change forms as they pleased. The gods favored their more human forms for how long they were attached to the mortal plane. She too was rather fond of her more human form, but she would rather wear fur than clothes, which was reflected in her choice of clothes.

Ammy wore an untraditional, but very comfortable kimono with a red binding underneath. It was a pure white silk one-sleeved kimono with crimson lining and the obi was a rich red with the golden sun embroidered upon it. The skirt of the kimono was short to allow her the freedom of running unhindered. The goddess had red ribbons lacing her thin grass woven sandals tight up to her knees. The sleeveless shoulder showed off the crimson markings of her goddesshood. Her infinite inkpot was tied to her obi and stopped at her hips.

She wasn't petite, but not very tall either, being just this side of shorter than average. Ammy being the "origin and mother of us all" was well endowed, but her binding held her in place tightly. Her hair was tucked around her to keep the eyes of her hunters averted. It was long enough to brush the middle of her thighs, pure white like her fur coat in wolf form. It was tied loosely in a high messy ponytail with many fly-aways. Her bangs were drawn to the side of her face and tied with red ribbons to show the crimson marking on her forehead. Her wolf ears twitched this way and that, just as her bushy tail wagged behind her in contentedness.

However, out of these features the most amazing were her eyes. Red, orange, and yellow were mixed into the golden color of the sunrise, ferocious, but very kind and gentle at the same time. They were accentuated by her defined eyebrows and delicate nose. Ammy looked every inch the sun goddess she was.

Ammy returned from her musings when her reflection was disturbed below. An old man with crimson markings and hair like her own stared stonily up at her favorite hiding place among the willows branches. He was dressed in finery, though simplistic, and held a bamboo cane with a murky yellow crystal atop of it with a large scroll slung across his back.

Her ears perked forward in a tense motion, and she stiffened all the way down to her tail, a knot formed in her stomach. Ammy rolled off her branch, landing gracefully as dandelions and lush grass sprung up below her feet to cushion her fall. Standing up, Ammy adjusted her binding to give her a bit more breathing room, and looked to the old looking god before her. "Yomigami, why so glum? Did you refuse to take a bath and get hand washed by Nuregami like a child? Your face will get more wrinkles and stick that way if you're not careful." Yomigami's eyes narrowed in brief annoyance, but returned to their grim demeanor. He was often serious, but not grimly so, which meant something was wrong.

"Yumigami requests your presence in the Abalone Room. She says it's of the utmost importance that you get there now." Ammy's eyes widened. Yumigami never requested for her presence since their personalities clashed and caused them to fight. Something was definitely wrong. Ammy backflipped, changing into her wolf form just as the Oina tribe did and took off at high speed. Servants quickly dodged out of the way, startled by the speed of their goddess and that she was out and about on bath day.

Ammy turned sharply down a wide hall, almost bumping into Waka, who was carrying many scrolls. "Oh! Where are you off to so quickly, ma cherie?" The blond man asked loudly as Ammy barked at him. She had no time for apologies. A few more sharp turns and a lot of near misses later, Ammy arrived at a large door that looked to be made of pearl. Using her head, Ammy shoved the door open and trotted inside.

A beautiful and silent woman stood at the edge of a large pool of water, just a bit ahead of Ammy. Weaving through the large pearl pillars, Ammy came to a stop next to the tall maiden. She was almost as fair as Ammy, pale skin, slim body, long and straight white hair, with crimson markings, marking her as a brush god. She had a moon hairpin keeping her hair from straying into her dark grey eyes and long rabbit ears standing tall on top of her head. She wore a traditional kimono with fluffy white fur lining the neck, and a pale yellow obi with the moon on it binding it all in harmonious beauty. Yumigami was indeed beautiful as most of the brush goddesses were, but where Ammy's beauty was wild and untamed, she had a cold and stoic beauty.

The pool Yumigami stood before was pure blue and glowed with a divine soft light. It was the Scrying Pool that allowed the celestials to look upon the mortals below. It had been here before Ammy was born during the time of the creators. The pool was deep so you couldn't see the bottom, just a light shining from below that caused the water to glow. Legend said that the pool had been used as a passage to the mortal plane in times of need. Other than the obvious power the pool had, no one knew how it got there. There was nothing recorded about it in the Royal Archives.

The palace was built around the pool, which was now located in the Abalone Room. The room was called as such because of the pearl-like material the room was constructed with. Everyone used the pool, but not as much as Yumigami. When Yumigami was not completing her duty to bring the moon up at night, she watched over the pool at all hours while she was awake.

Ammy quickly reversed her form to human, and stood stiffly next to the rabbit. "Yumigami, you wished to speak with me?" Yumigami merely gestured to the picture forming in the pool with her dark eyes. Ammy followed her gaze to the distorted image, blurring in and out of focus like something was interfering with it.

The pool depicted Agata Forest. It was overrun with demons, roaming through the trees. Madame Fawn's fortune-telling shop and Kokari's home were abandoned. The image shifted to Taka Pass, which was in the same condition, shops closed and abandoned, more demons roaming the countryside. The picture blurred again showing Kusa villagers heavily barricading the village entrance and building a wall around the edge of the cliffs. Sasa Sanctuary was mostly the same, the security a bit tighter than usual. The image kept blurring in and out, showing the change Nippon was going through. It had only been a few months since Ammy had been to the Scrying Pool, it should not have changed this fast. It should not have changed at all.

The last straw for her was the pool showing Kamiki Village. The villagers and a pregnant Kushi were running out of their burning village into Shinshu Field, with Susano protecting them as they fled. They all ran for shelter towards the entrance to the frozen wastelands of Kamui.

There was a resounding crack of hard pearl as the pillar behind them shook with the force of Ammy making a crater in it with her fist. Her small frame shook with barely restrained anger, and her golden eyes blazed with fury. Turning to the silent goddess she shouted, "What is going on?! I defeated the lord of darkness, Yami, and killed most of the demon forces! There should have just been a few stragglers left, and only the weaker ones! Why are there so many!?"

Yumigami turned her eyes back to Ammy, speaking for the first time,"I was only aware of this myself as of a few hours ago. I have been gathering as much information as possible." Yumigami waved her hand over the pool, bringing up a clear image. Depicted were a few demons here and there, spread throughout Nippon. However, they weren't causing mayhem every chance they got like they usually did. They were staying to the shadows, sneaking about Ryoshima Coast, Taka Pass, Agata Forest, and Shishu Field.

"I believe the demons have a new master, one that is more intelligent than Yami. I have seen many of the remaining demons slain, so I dismissed the behavior as being cautious. However, I was wrong. By the time I realized that something was wrong, this had already happened. I tried to continue to collect information, but then Kamiki Village was attacked… I called for you immediately." Yumigami paced back and forth, her brow crinkled in frustration. Ammy's eyes still blazed with anger, but she took a deep breath to restrain and compose herself. "Do you know anything else?" she gritted out. Yumigami through her arms up in vexation.

"No! Nothing! I can't seem to gather any information from - from anywhere!" Yumigami balled up her fists and gritted her teeth. If this wasn't so serious, it would be amusing. Yumigami was the calmest person, except Yomigami, in the palace. She didn't lose her cool about anything. Ammy still couldn't help but give her an amused look, but immediately went back to being serious. "So what are we suppos-" Interrupted, Ammy was hurled forward into Yumigami as the palace shuddered with a resounding explosion.

The goddesses were roughly thrown into a tangled heap on the ground. Ammy groaned and started coughing, as the air had been forced from her lungs. Yumigami was laying under her in the same condition. As Ammy tried to get up another explosion shook the the palace. It made her lose her balance again, but she caught herself on the pillar next to them. Regaining her voice, Ammy quickly pulled Yumigami up off the floor,"Come on, we need to-" She was interrupted once more as the door slammed open to the room.

Kabegami came running through the pillars, her cat ears pressed flat against her short and messy white hair and her tail lashing back and forth frantically. She had on a loose white play kimono pulled up to show the crimson marking on her legs and bare feet. The obi she was wearing was purple with gold cat paws embroidered on it. Kabegami had such a look of panic on her face as she ran to Ammy, hiding her face in the white silk at Ammy's waist. Ammy's instincts urged her to comfort the little goddess. No one brought out her motherly side like Kabegami.

Ammy crouched down to the frightened cat goddess, tilting her face up so she could look into the little one's pink eyes that were wet with tears. Gently shushing her, Ammy asked, "Kabegami, hey, what's going on? What's wrong?" Kabegami hiccoughed and sniffed, trying to stop crying enough to tell Ammy what was happening. "W-We're under at-at-attack. I-I-I was pl-playing Oni in the garden with I-Ite-Itegami. I was hiding i-nn the hydrangea b-b-bushesss…" Kabegami wiped at her eyes and sniffed again before continuing,"T-That's when there was this really big boom. A lot of palace guards went running by and-and Itegami was running towards the noise yelling for me to come find you. Mister Waka ran past me just a little while ago too."

Ammy narrowed her eyes at this information. Who would dare invade the Celestial palace which not only had guards, but some of the most powerful people in the celestial realm living there? Another explosion rocked the palace, followed by two more. Kabegami whimpered and hid her face back in Ammy's kimono fabric. Just as she was about to change into her wolf form to go join the battle loud footsteps could be heard running towards them. There was no time to change, she would just have to fight in her current form. Ammy summoned the blade of Kusanagi to her and set Solar Flare as her sub weapon for extra protection. She was, after all, still in possession of Kabegami, who would hinder her in a fight.

Yumigami summoned and readied her mochi hammer, standing as still as a statue as the sound got closer. It was right on top of them… Suddenly a figure came running in through the open door and slammed it loudly, startling the goddesses inside. Ammy and Yumigami almost attacked the figure until they saw the gold hair and fluffy buttons. "Half-baked prophet! Give us all a heart attack, why don't you!" Ammy puffed her cheeks out, while Yumigami let out a sigh of relief, her long ears drooping.

Waka out of breath, laughed weakly at Ammy's fond insult. His funny-looking hat was gone and his clothes were ripped up, showing his cuts and scratches. He looked worse for the wear. Kabegami latched onto Ammy's bare leg, watching Waka with concerned pink eyes. Ammy, while worried for her comrade, started asking questions immediately. "Are you okay? What's going on? Why are we under attack? Where is everyone else? Are they okay?"

Waka seemed a bit rattled by her barrage of questions. He shook out his gold hair and straightened out his stance before he help up his hand in a time out sign. "Stop, please, ma cherie. You are giving me a headache." Ammy stopped questioning him, but huffed in annoyance crossing her arms over her chest, tail swishing behind her. "Now, I'm afraid I can't answer you right now. There are too many demons, we are outnumbered. Even if you were to join the battle, ma cherie, there would be too many. We need information to defeat this new foe, but there is no time to gather it. The brush gods are fleeing to the mortal plane as we speak, and it is there we will rendezvous." Waka quickly walked over to the Scrying Pool and studied the strange language carved into the side of the pool. He started to chant in the strange tongue that none of them understood.

Another explosion rocked the palace, making Ammy grab Kabegami and hold her tight to her chest to protect the little goddess from the pearlescent debris raining from the ceiling. There was loud pounding on the door, the loud screeching of the many demons added to the deafening explosions of the bombs. "Uhh, Waka… You might want to hurry!" Ammy watched as the door bent in, losing its resistance to the brutal beating it was receiving.

The light in the bottom of the pool glowed brighter and the water started to swirl as Waka chanted louder. Just then the door cracked open at bit, letting in some of the smaller demons. Kabegami clung to Ammy tightly, as not to get in the way as she fought off the persistent demons with Kusanagi and used the Celestial Brush to freeze some in place to buy more time. Yumigami protected Waka as he kept chanting, bashing any demons' heads that came too close in with her large hammer.

The light from the pool suddenly blinded everyone in the room, vaporizing some of the lesser demons. The water was swirling around quickly, just like the whirlpool entrance to the Dragon Palace. Waka unsheathed his sword, Pillow Talk, and started to fend off advancing demons away from the Scrying Pool, Yumigami assisting him. "Go now, Amaterasu! That is the passage to the mortal realm below. Where it will take you I'm afraid I do not know." Waka shouted over his shoulder to the sun goddess. "What about you?! Aren't you coming with us?!" Ammy shouted over the fray, slaying the demons that attacked her and the still clinging Kabegami, who had a death grip on Ammy's neck and waist.

Waka gave her his brilliant smile before slaying the ring of demons around him. "We'll see each other again, be sure of that. Until then let me give you a new prophecy. A new wind blows, let the journey begin!" With those last few words Waka jumped into the middle of the fray once more. All that Ammy could see were flashes of his golden hair and the sound of Pillow Talk whistling through the air. Ammy looked about to find Yumigami and grab her, but then there was another explosion. It shook the palace like all the others, but this time it was just outside the Abalone Room doors. The resulting shockwave threw her back and into the Scrying Pool.

Ammy clung tight to Kabegami, refusing to let the little cat goddess slip from her grasp as she was completely submerged in dark water. All she could do was hold her breath and cling to Kabegami as she was tossed around the whirlpool. Her left side collided hard against something and it winded her, causing her to cough and inhale water.

The edges of her vision grew dark and blurry as she started to feel light headed and her ears began to ring. Before she blacked out, she thought, 'I remember why I hate bath day…. I can't swim very...good…'

End of Chapter 1

Thank you for reading, please review and I hope you enjoyed reading the first chapter of A New Wind Blows. Edited by GeckoMama.