'From the Gods, Down to Man: Belief is the Key, Faith Will Set You Free'

It was, indeed, one of the nicest days, that one could have ever experienced. The weather was perfect, not too hot, not too cold. The sun was out, there was delicate breeze making it's way around the area. The sky up above was a clear blue, the only clouds that could be seen were white and fluffy, not a dark spot to be seen anywhere. But unfortunately, for some, those days could not be enjoyed to the fullest. Students, and those who worked, were stuck inside. But, there were some who were a bit more...let's say...blessed by the gods, to have the 'lucky fortune' to be able to savor this fine day.

A small hill, on the outskirts of downtown Kyoto, more out in the country area really, could be found. A long staircase, topped by a rather faded looking Torii, led to a small shrine. This particular hill was shrouded with trees and other shrubbery. The shrine on this hill was old and worn, and it seemed as if no one even came there any more, and yet, everything seemed to be in order. It was clean, but very old. Despite that fact, it was a peaceful place, and unnervingly quiet, as if some unearthly presence shooed away all whispers of any sound at all.

But if one looked enough, strained their eyes, they could make out, on top of the roof of the main Honden, a figure could be seen, laying out on the tiles, enjoying the rays of sun that reached where they were relaxing. Their arms placed behind their heads, and, from the look of it, they were fast asleep. But recently, it wasn't unusual, to the residents of the area, for this particular person to go up those stairs everyday, and disappear into the shrine for the whole day, and sometimes not even leave until many days have passed. It was just a thing that they had gotten used to.

A soft sigh escapes his lips, and he smiles in his sleep. The young man was quite enchanting to look at, with perfect skin, strange tiger like markings, and beautiful hair, of both ebony black and silvery white. He had long, black and white eyelashes, and a slender, cat like build, muscular, but compact. He was wearing an all black kimono that day, and no sandals. Usually he wore a different outfit, but it seemed that day he wanted to be simple. Little known to him, his cat nap was about to end quite soon, due to certain events about to take place, ones that he had no control over.

Meanwhile, a group of teenagers were huddled at the base of the many shrine steps at the bottom of the hill, laughing among themselves, daring each other to go up the stairs and see just who this stranger was. Because from the rumors they had heard, he was either a ghost, or some other creature not of this world. That or just some weirdo who liked hanging out at dilapidated old shrines. Eventually, one male gets picked, and the others laugh. Seeing as it was the one who, out of all of them, didn't believe at all in the 'otherworldly' or 'spiritual' side of things. "Go on!" One says. "You know what to do. Try seeing if he's real or not!"

Little did they know a change was going to happen. Little did they know that the entire world was about to get turned upside down and inside out. Little did they know that god actually existed, and one such deity was about to land smack dab in the middle of the world that they know. And up in the shrine, Byakko himself could sense the change in the air, opening his eyes and sitting up on the roof, he turns his head left, then right; looking around, sensing the shift in the air already. 'What...is going on?" He murmurs, eyes turning to the skies, which were starting to cloud over, light dimming away to a pale and eerie semi darkness. It seemed a storm was coming, and it wasn't a natural caused one either. He knew things as such, which hadn't happened for eons, this was a storm caused by a rift when the two worlds between gods and human merged. See, the two worlds were mirror images of each other, or like a coin. There was the side of the gods, and then reflected on that was the world of the humans. Both were the same world, and yet they were separate too, since the two did not physically touch, but more spiritually were connected. But there were rare times when a rift was opened so that a god or such deity could descend upon the world of the humans, and in reaction to this storms of a large scale often took place. Byakko couldn't help but wonder what was going on.

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It was far away from the other Japan, another dimension, another universe, and another planet. People were hanging on to rooftops and wood shafts for dear life as their loved ones sunk below the waters. Everyone was swimming around the high rivers, asking for help pulling on others sleeves as they leaned on other to help them keep afloat. A girl wearing glasses was standing on a rooftop with a squirming puppy in her hands, she was shaking but not from the cold breeze but from the two godly figures in front of her. The two Kami were arguing...


"How about we slice her throat and spare Finn?" Otohime, A major kami goddess suggested with a smirk. "In all seriousness, she has murdered many innocent civilians as well as demigods with an obtuse nightmare."




"No! I am not going to kill my daughter and spare the little runt." Suijin, The water god said as he gestured to a whimpering Finn. "We have to think of something..."




Omoikane the god of wisdom and intellect had just arrived, He was paying attention to the drowning citizens and the looked at the girl. "We should just send her to another universe. Another Japan, while Izanami No Mikoto rebuilds this one." He would replied as he turned to teleport but Suijin turned around and grabbed the wise god by his arm. "How can this be possible? The girl isn't strong enough, she still has a lot of training to do." He told the wise god, acting as if his daughter wasn't there.

Omoikane sighed and pushed up his glasses, "I know where you can go, and this is punishment for your daughter's selfishness. Would you rather go with Otohime's suggestion?" He asked Suijin, who shook his head. After a moment's hesitation, he turned to the god of intellect with a solid nod. "Show us this other Japan, Elodie, we will be right back." And with that, the three Kami gods disappeared.

Meanwhile, people were still drowning and trying so hard to hold on to the fallen parts of their homes. Elodie was still standing on the roof holding on to Finn, who felt like he was going to hop out of her arms. Wooden planks were sinking but Omoikane and Otohime flew around trying to keep them afloat, soon the citizens were starting to get impatient once Elodie placed Finn on the rooftop trying to balance the rooftop house shoes and all on her swollen feet. "We'll be okay Finn, I will always protect you." She said to the whimpering puppy as the rooftop almost tilted causing Finn to almost slid into the water. Elodie felt a woman's hand on the rooftop, "Please give me and my two sons this rooftop, we need to live through this dreadful tsunami!" Elodie turned around seeing that the woman had a slobbering toddler in her hand and a boy that looked no older than five or six swimming behind his mother. Then more people noticed the rooftop, they begun to abandoned the rafts and swam over with interest.

"Sweetheart! If you give me that rooftop, I will pay you over 1000 yen!"

"Please dear, my children are dying..!"


"Young lady, if you don't give me that rooftop I will chop off you and you rat's head!"

There was pleads, threats, and they were getting even more desperate as more people swam over. Then the pushing and shoving came, a young woman grabbed a teenage boy's head and pulled him under water, Two men were thrashing fighting in the high river, A teeth flew in the air, an eye was stabbed, and there was more splashes in the water. Elodie watched all of this but heard a loud bark as Finn was grabbed by a younger boy, "HEY! D-D-Don't touch my d-dog!" She yelled, she started to sweat as she reached out to grab the boy. All of a sudden, she felt a hand grab her ankle and yank forward with a scream her back hit hard on the brick rooftop as she was dragged to the high rivers as a lot of people stepped over her to get on the rooftop, "FINN! OMOIKANE, HELP ME!!" She shrieked as she was pulled underwater...

Time was stopped, everything froze as Elodie swam up to resurface. Everyone was frozen except for her, Otohime, and Omoikane, and her father who had just came back. "Get Finn, we are going to other world." He told her with a nonchalant expression. With a grumble, Elodie gently picked Finn up, she hated her father! She thought that he didn't care about anything! He smiled at Otohime and Omoikane. Before going, Elodie ran over to Omoikane and Otohime giving them a hug. "Goodbye you t-two.. You were the best f-foster parents.." She said before bowing and running over to he father, as they both waved Omoikane looked as if he was about to cry and Otohime looked indifferent. "Safe Travels!" Omoikane yelled.

Elodie and Suijin would portal in silence, The demigod did not want to talk to him; she didn't want to talk to anyone but Finn and maybe Omoikane even though he suggested the punishment. The two finally arrived in Tokyo, which didn't look as destroyed as the other one. The water deity snapped his fingers, which made Elodie's floral pajamas turn into the average jeans and t-shirt. "Otohime, Omoikane, and I were able to get you an apartment in your name and enrolled you into a high school. You don't start until Tuesday though." Finn, who was right beside Elodie hopped in front of her and gave the Kami god a sharp bark.

"Oh hush."

The demigod stared at the two in puzzlement, Did Finn know Suijin? Before she could ask the god anything, he waved his hand dismissively. "Before you ask, no I cannot give you the ability to understand dogs," He replied with a chuckle, he withdrew a wallet, a key, and a card of the apartment and apartment number from his pockets and handed it to her. The socially anxious demigod opened the wallet and found a wad of... nothing!? "W-W-What is the meaning of t-t-this!?" Elodie furrowed her brows, staring up at her father.

"The Kami and I decided that you should work for your money. You have done a disservice and sent many civilians and demigods to Yomi, the underworld. You need to learn how to use your powers just as you need to learn how to work and earn money, as well as our trust. Umiko, you are selfish. The way you turned away many civilians who wanted to place their children on your large plank is dishonorable. We put you here not because of the tsunami, but because there are lessons you need to learn such as selflessness as well as many others. Think of it as a road to discovery--"

A beeping noise was heard, Suijin looked at the watch on his wrist and sighed. "Now, I must take my leave," He straightened up his posture. "The United States is in need of rain, and Poseidon is sitting on his lazy arse. I wish you good luck my child." The Kami god vanished, leaving Elodie and Finn to themselves.

The Japanese/Australian demigod was left feeling numb about the tsunami, the demigod dream, and the Kami. She turned her heel and walked in the direction of a hill, Finn following at her heels. She adjusted her blue-rimmed glasses, a bit relieved that there were thankfully no dirty flecks on them. The storm that was from the portal was starting to clear, the sky becoming a bright blue once again.

Elodie was finally in front of the many stairs of in front of the shrine, a few Japanese teenagers laughing with each other and daring each other to do something? The girl hadn't had enough energy to listen in, she stayed far away from the group of friends as possible. "F-F-Finn, l-let's stay here.." The demigod whispered, carefully kneeling down on her knees as her hands folded together. With her social anxiety, Elodie would have usually waited for the teenagers to leave but she was too drained to do anything but thank the Kami for forgiveness, and another chance. Bowing her head, Elodie had silently begun to pray...

After Finn walked away to do it's business, it returned to Elodie's side. The Shiba Inu puppy begun to sniff around the pavement, seeing if it could smell any potential threats. The puppy begun to walk on top of the steps, still sniffing for anything but it's ears perked up when it heard what the teenagers were saying. Finn wasn't an ordinary puppy, it use to be a servant of Suijin's before it was turned into a Shiba Inu for Elodie's birthday. Finn never liked the god, who was always fickle and picky, so he served him seafood out of spite and then the rest was history. Finn or Tatsu (It's human name)'s dislike didn't extend to Elodie, who it begun to adore and watch after as if the girl was it's younger sibling.

Finn caught a peculiar smell, it ran up the steps and begin to bark at the kimono-robed figure..

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Omega Interest Check!!!

Beta Interest Check! :)

Muh waifs.

As he looked to the skies, Byakko watched as at first the light of day became darker and darker, the clouds growing in size, a sign of bad omens and forlorn futures, but just as quickly as they had appeared, they receded in to the distance; once more the sun shone from the blue above, and warmth filled the air. For a moment he stared upwards, confused, but not all that much, by what had just happened. Despite his young and fit appearance, Byakko had been through quite a lot, he was no new kid on the block, that was for sure. He'd seen things like that before, but usually it turned out for the worst, instead of settling down right away. If he were honest with himself, he was extremely glad things hadn't done what they usually did, this change was for the better, for both himself and the inhabitants of this world that he lived in.

Lowering his eyes from the sky at last, he blinks in surprise when the scent of something that he normally didn't pick up around here reached his nose. Dog. Glancing left and right, from the roof of the Honden, trying to figure out where that smell was coming from, as it slowly got closer to where he was. Then, coming racing up the steps that led to the Holy Ground of the shrine, and passing through the faded red Torii, he could see the source of the scent his sensitive nose was picking up on. A shiba inu, who, for some reason, came straight to the spot where he was at, and began to bark at him.

Looking down at the dog, he narrows his eyes, the pupils of his becoming narrow like a cat's would in the dark, or if irritated. A low growl formed in the back of his throat, and his lips raise up slightly to show sharp dangerous looking teeth. A angry hiss forms out of the growl, and despite himself, ears and tail of a tiger form, the ears pressing back, and the tail flicking back and forth in irritation. But when he heard another form of footsteps coming up the shrine steps, he quickly calms himself, ears and tail receding, and he was once in the form of a human, nothing out of the ordinary.

He was surprised to see a girl standing at the top of the stairs beneath the Torii, and from what he could tell she wasn't one hundred percent Japanese. Nor did she really look like she belonged there in the first place. Something about her seemed off...not only her appearance was strange, her scent was different too. Who was this girl? Narrowing his eyes, he waited for her to approach, not saying anything, but definitely keeping his guard up. One of his stature couldn't be too careful.

For Future Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinto_architecture#Sanctuary_.28honden.29

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Finn kept barking at the robbed figure, wondering who he was and why he was lounging on the rooftop. In Japan, it was rather odd to see someone lounging on the rooftop of a shrine, but this Japan might be different? The Shiba Inu growled once the figure focused on it, it wagged it's tail in curiosity as if to wait to see what it was going to do. What Finn anticipated, was unexpected, the stranger's pupils dilated and he had growled back at the dog. Finn whimpered, taking a few steps back...

Elodie's eye's fluttered open, feeling a bit rejuvenated after her prayer. Slowly rising, the demigod looked to both sides, a bit confused about where Finn was. Her worry suddenly turned to panic, it wasn't until she heard a whimper from all the way up the stairs to make her worry disappear. Picking up her lunchbox, the raven-haired teen trudged her way up the stairs, occasionally leaning against the Torris. After a few minutes, she caught up to Finn and scooped him up with one hand. "F-Finn, p-please d-don't ever run away like that a-again," Elodie fretted, panting heavily and looking up the rooftop to see what the fuss was all about.

He was a magnificent sight. A tall man with bleached hair, a striped marking on one cheek, and a dark kimono which complimented his stature greatly. Is he a cosplayer..? Elodie thought, tilting her head up to see if she could examine even more of his features. Placing Finn back on the concrete pavement, she bowed twice to the stature. "S-S-Sorry, sir! M-My dog is very curious, I-I-I'm also wondering w-why y-you're on the r-rooftop?"

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Omega Interest Check!!!

Beta Interest Check! :)

Muh waifs.

At first it was as if the girl hadn't even noticed where she was, what place she'd stepped foot in, her only concern being that annoying little dog. She spoke to it in a rushed voice, and even from where he was he could hear the panic in the words she spoke. Right from that point he could tell that she was a dog person, and that made him not like her already. Not that he had anything against her, except for the fact she liked dogs. After a few seconds pass she looks around, apparently trying to find the source of the discomfort for the mutt, before looking up to where he was. His gorgeous ice blue eyes stare right back at her, unblinking, his gaze like ice, or rather like he was staring in to her soul.

She too looked back at him, but in a different way. He could see it in her eyes, but thinks nothing of it. It seemed like much longer that the two simply looked at each other, before the girl puts her dog back down on the ground, his eyes following the movement, and for a short second or two he remains staring at the dog before looking to the female once more. She then bows to him, not once but twice in apology, and he almost laughed, but kept his composure, though a small smile forms on his lips as he listens to her apology for the dog. Curious indeed, that was for sure. He'd almost tipped his cover because of that stupid canine.

Hearing the question though, he tilts his head raising his eyebrows, the smile remaining on his lips. "Korehanandesuka? Why am I up here?" He repeats, blinking slowly. Even though there was no tail to be seen, one could definitely imagine one flipping lightly back and forth like a cat teasing another. Slowly he stands up, stretching his arms above his head, muscles flexing slightly with his movements. After he'd finished, he lets his arms rest at his sides, one hand on his hip as he looked down from the roof of the Honden. "Because I can, that's why. You can do what you want if it's your own home, am I correct? If you want to sit on the roof of a house you own, then why not do it?"

Bending his knees, he jumps, propelling himself through the sky, flipping midair and landing about ten feet behind where the girl was standing, facing her. His eyes had a mischievous look to them, and that smile had turned more into a teasing grin. "I can tell that you are not from around here, so I'll let you in on where you are. Nishijinja, or West Shrine." He pauses, to let this sink in, before speaking up again. "And you may call me Byakko."

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