"You did an excellent job handling that situation, Yasaka-sama."
The moon was high in the sky, devouring a large majority of the twinkling stars that night. The air was cold, the breeze slight but still enough to drag jagged furrows across human flesh. Atop a cliff, overlooking the 'small' city filled to the brim with Yokai of all shapes and sizes, stood two figures surrounded by a lush forest.
A simple table laid between them, with a pair of white tea cups with a visibly steaming kettle that was releasing a steady but delicious scent.
One side, an old man with an elongated, bald head covered in wrinkles and liver-spots, wore a simple black kimono that hung off his short and near skeletal figure. Small eyes looked onto the city wanly, his cane laying flat on the ground just within reach.
His words were probably meant as genuine praise but to Yasaka, it felt hollow despite it not being so.
"It doesn't feel it." The blonde kitsune snorted, her yellow kimono hanging tight to her own figure. Nine golden tails waving gently behind her. "Tell me, Nurarihyon, what would you have done in my place?"
"…." The old general was silent for a moment, a variety of carefully curated expressions flickering across his face. And while rubbing his thin hands together did he finally answer. "I would kill Kiyo to appease Akiko. They've grown far too complacent in their perceived power, they believed themselves above any form of punishment or decorum so this would remind the clans of their place while also getting of a future problem. They had no business speaking to a council member like that, especially someone they worked so closely with...But I would've still punished Akiko for losing control like that, especially with the slavers present. A fine would be more than fair."
"…" She thought it over for a second, really taking in his answer. It would so, so easy to just kill Kiyo. They had no way of fighting against her, their techniques would break off against her fur like arrows shot from weak bows plinking ineffectually on heavy armor. The raccoon had been trying her for years, slowly skirting around just the edges of decorum enough to not be called out by her personally. They could get away with it with Marui because of the Oni's warrior culture, verbal jabs were common in his household. But even the tanuki knew what lines not to cross and they'd begun trying to do the same to the rest of the council members. She could so easily see how that execution went. But then what? She would further cement her place in the eyes of her clans but they would also grow to fear her. Again. And people, Yokai included, tended to make some pretty stupid decisions when they're afraid. "I won't kill Kiyo, but I should destroy some of their forms. A hundred should do. And as for the fine...I'll think about it."
"Of course, Yasaka-sama."
The two fell into silence for what felt like hours, but time only scooted forward a hair. An hour at most. She could feel his Ki flickering out of control. Doubt, fear, unease, anger and..uncertainty plagued one of her old and most loyal advisors.
"You can speak candidly here." The kitsune leaned back, losing that empress air she spent years trying to cultivate. "Just speak as though I'm not the Yokai Leader and just like the Yasaka you met all those centuries ago."
"That's impossible." A small grin split his thin lips. "Even back then, I wouldn't dare….But if it's your command, I will try to obey. I have...concerns on the future of Yokais as a whole."
"Oh?"
She quirked a brow, silently nudging for him to continue.
"Our free and continued existence isn't up for debate. With you and your master's presence, we're no longer at threat of being turned into a forced labor force. Our survival is assured...but I more worry about our internal issues." He calmly spoke, lifting a cup and taking a small sip. "In the beginning, Yokai were obedient and grateful for your protection. You were there to protect them when they were dispersed clans and petty lords. And it's not an overstatement to say we wouldn't be here with you making your sacrifice back then. But we're like humans in so many ways. Our memories are short, only the eldest generation actually remembered how it was during that first wave of divine assisted priest came flooding through our territory. But they're pride too, they only seem to want to remember the glory days and ignore everything else. And their children were too young at the time to remember fully."
"They've grown fat and happy under your sacrifice. And some of them have probably got it in their head that they could survive out there without you. Of course, while still keeping your power as deterrent but as nothing more than a figurehead. It was mere just rumbling, but I fear news of us meeting with The Five Principal Clans they will see this as an attempt to form a schism. They'll still use your and your master's power to hide under like an umbrella but they will try to separate from us. From you."
She wasn't as blind and death as she pretended to be and knew some of the clans had grown discontent with her over the decades, the Nekomata a clear example. Especially after she bent the knee to the Devils after an entire branch of theirs got slaughtered in the Underworld. It was an eventuality that things would escalate to this point.
"And when they do, I fear the chaos they will bring. They're arrogant, unjustly so. The younger generation will so eagerly believe the boasting of their elders on being worshiped like gods while not realizing that that time has long since passed. I can see the rise of our faction with all these changes. I can see us becoming such a prize commodity that no faction would ever dream of invading or attacking us in fear of the others. I see a future where we can stand shoulder to shoulder with the Three Great Factions. I see us creating yet another Kami...and I feel like this one won't turn their back on us as Sun Wukong did."
"With these new spirit fruits, our future is limitless….But that's the problem. These disloyal elements in our faction will also benefit from this. Something they do not deserve. Like leeches, they'll suckle and suckle until your weakened before they large enough to try taking a bite directly out of you." At this, he rose unsteadily to his feet before falling down into a full body bow. Pressing his head deep into the ground as his voice grew hoarse. "To not allow these parasites to flourish, I beg of you, Yasaka-sama allow me to play one final act. If I can act as focal point for all these rebellious factors, we can collect them all at once and destroy all of them in one fell swoop. They will have no time to scurry like rats or fade into the general population. So please, my lord, my lady, please allow this old man preform one last time. Allow me to repay you're own sacrifice from centuries ago. Allow me to enact one final act for our people. Allow me to become your poisoned blade one final time."
It was barely above a whisper, but that plea was like hammer blows against her consciousness. Yasaka's position as the strongest Yokai was enough to keep most of the more ambitious clan heads and upstarts at bay but with how long lived everyone was, she knew it would only take time for there to be another Ultimate-Class Yokai to pop up and directly try to take her position. The casualties would be great, as clans picked side and further escalating this into a full blown civil war.
But if she could get a handle on this now, round them all up to carefully cut them away from the main body then it would solve everything. Sure, there would always be that possibility of more dissidents cropping up later on down the line, it would cut a lot them at the knee. With no clan support, any form of rebellion would be easy to sniff out.
It was the prudent decision, a clear cut option...all it would take was the sacrifice of a friend she's known for centuries.
"We will see how things go first." It was weakness on her part, that she knew. A childish urge to win everything without losing something in kind. That simply wasn't how the world worked, she knew and had lived through lesson being hammered into her head. "Let's observe, for now."
"Of course, Yasaka-sama." He still didn't raise his head, forehead pressed firmly into ground. Before a small but hesitant voice eeked out, almost willingly from his lips. "But, please remember Yasaka-sama, to allow a tree to grow, the weeds must be pulled out at the roots. Only then, when they aren't strangling the sapling will it truly be allowed to bloom."