Chapter 445 - Eva The Crook
Amaterasu began to sweat heavily. She had suppressed the dark thoughts that had passed through her head in those moments, and it was only her Divine items Yasakani no Magatama and Yata no Kagami that had managed to clear her mind at the last moment.
If she was to display her true feelings, her belief in herself and her moral superiority would crumble, as her righteous hypocrisy would be dragged into the light!
At least that was Eva's evaluation of the situation.
Amaterasu saw this in a different way. In the Goddess' mind acknowledging her thoughts from back then, would result in her becoming 'corrupted'. Someone who was self-righteous and bigoted like her would never be able to see past their own hypocrisy.
Tsukuyomi, knowing that this was his chance, pushed on. "What are you waiting for? A Supreme Goddess of the Light and Justice should never hesitate! There is nothing dark to be found in you, so why take so long?!"
Amaterasu's hands began to shake as she was pressured into a tough spot. Eva's eyes narrowed as she tsked. "Enough! I didn't come here to help you, Moon God. You've had enough of a break as-is."
Tsukuyomi looked away with annoyance as he tsked under his breath. Amaterasu, realizing she had been played by her ex-husband, became red with fury and was about to attack him for his insolence, but before she got the chance, Eva raised a hand.
"However, I've come to stop this meaningless fight."
Both deities looked at Eva with confusion. Eva folded her arms and began explaining in a slow tone, like she was talking to idiots. "I'm not a part of her. I'm an alternate version of Amaterasu."
"You should know about the Immortal Adventurers, right?" Eva asked.
Both deities nodded. In truth, they had only learned about them recently through Eva's actions, but now it seemed like commonplace knowledge thanks to the implementation of the AI.
"Well, we Immortal Adventurers come from is this world, only more than 500 years in the future." Eva pseudo-lied with a straight face.
"In my timeline, I'd eventually killed Tsukuyomi after a long, strenuous battle and purged the world of the night for good. This however, did not bring benefit to the world but extreme trauma and horror."
"Without the night, there was no more balance to the day. All Humans started to focus on being good and purging their evils as well as their chaos. At first, this seemed ideal as the world entered a long era of peace. I only noticed it after a couple of generations that human minds had begun to lose their color due to this extreme order."
"They had become slower, duller, and less motivated. Eventually, they reached a point where many either committed suicide en masse or just… stopped. They stopped thinking, moving, or doing anything. They just stopped living."
Eva pointed to Tsukuyomi. "Luckily, I was smart enough to keep his divinity on hand after our fight. After paying a high price, I was able to revive him and we reconciled, partly because it was necessary and partly because he's very intelligent as well as flexible."
Tsukuyomi blushed and rubbed the back of his head while looking away, while Amaterasu still wore a totally incredulous expression, like this was the last thing she expected to hear in her life.
"I'm telling you all this to avoid the loss of almost 90% of all human life due to your bigotry and advise you to reconcile. You are a Goddess of the Light and Justice, what purpose do you have to exist if there is no evil for you to vanquish or crimes to judge?"
BOOM!
Eva's simple question blew Amaterasu's mind open, for it was something she had never even considered up to this point. All Eva had said so far had largely passed through one ear and out the next for Amaterasu, so deep was the Goddess into her own play that she was incapable of seeing much of the world around her.
But this line hit home and forced her out, especially when contrasted with Eva's earlier bullshit- *cough* story. Amaterasu silently simulated what would happen if she were to defeat Tsukuyomi and vanquish all evil.
With there being endless light, there would be no purpose for her to exist per se. She would have no motivation to continue, just like the humans who eventually killed themselves, and would also end up with the same fate unless she brought back Tsukuyomi or any form of evil as it were.
It was this realization that made Amaterasu's heart go cold. What a terrible thing that would happen if she continued! As a paragon of virtue and justice, she couldn't let such a thing occur.
Tsukuyomi though, rubbed his chin as his eyes narrowed. He was skeptical about this whole story, but when Eva gazed at him and threw over a 'look', he understood.
Smiling he moved to his ex-wife and spoke in a comforting voice. "My love, you should know I've never meant any evil or harm to you. Think back on our history and tell me whether I've ever directly wronged you or shown you anything but adoration?"
Amaterasu frowned but couldn't reply. Her ex-husband was right, he had actually been very hospitable all their lives, and it was she who had usually been… unreceptive of him.
Realizing this, Amaterasu felt extremely ashamed of herself. Normally, she would scoff at thinking of her own faults, shifting the blame to something else in typical fashion, but with an alternate version of herself here, Amaterasu felt n.a.k.e.d.
Especially since this alternate-self came from the future and seemed much more developed and mature. She felt like a child being scrutinized by an a.d.u.l.t, which was why Tsukuyomi's words hit harder than usual.
Seeing that his words were super effective, the Moon God approached the Sun Goddess and held her hand. "All I want is for us to return to the way we were. I never wanted to fight you, Amaterasu, only love you. Why won't you allow me to?"
Amaterasu showed visible struggle on her face as she gazed at the handsome deity before her. "In truth, she actually still loved Tsukuyomi, as she obviously would not have married herself to him otherwise, but her nature and her emotions clashed, leading to her nature winning.
Now that battle was revived and her emotions were in an advantageous position, she felt like she had been too harsh with her lover and had not treated him right, even going as far as seeking his death.
Yet according to her alternate future self, even after being revived, he had forgiven her and had chosen to bond afterward. This moved Amaterasu greatly, as women with her personality archetype loved nothing more than a partner who could willingly put up with their shit.
While Tsukuyomi continued to butter up his babe, Eva just folded her arms and shook her head. She had expected the Moon God to follow her cue, not take the reins and gallop away!
Was every pretty boy born with a MAXed out 'f.u.c.kboy' skill? Or was Tsukuyomi just styled after Lucifer. The mythological Amaterasu may have been married to Tsukuyomi, but that wasn't the case in reality.
Why would the real Amaterasu marry a mere Moon Good, when the Essence of Evil and Darkness himself was infatuated with her? Possibly, mythology either mixed things up or misunderstood, but whatever the case, Tsukuyomi's archetype was based on Lucifer, hence his handsomeness, affiliation with the dark, and his supreme f.u.c.kboy abilities.
Case in point, Amaterasu was now in the solid embrace of Tsukuyomi, her face sporting a light blush with a satisfied smile.
Conquered! Defeated! Claimed!
Amaterasu had fallen!
The f.u.c.kboy empire wins again!
They are truly undefeated in this world!
Tsukuyomi winked at Eva from a position where his newly 'acquired' babe couldn't see, making Eva feel even more bitter deep down. Looking at the situation, it felt as if she had been the matchmaker between her 'f.u.c.kboy' friend and her 'innocent' friend, or more accurately speaking as if she had served the latter on a silver platter to the former, but it had been necessary for her plans to come to fruition.
After some time spent in each other's embrace, Amaterasu came forward to Eva. Her aura was less forceful and direct like before and more adaptable, similar to the real Amaterasu Eva knew.
"I don't know how I can thank you for bringing peace to Shinoka Continent and enlightenment to me." The Sun Goddess said with a light bow.
Eva had worked hard to control herself as she said with a gentle smile. "It's nothing outside of my own obligations. I work for the Light and Justice, so helping you is helping us all."
"Besides, as an alternate version of myself, you are no different from a sister in my eyes. How could I pretend to be a stranger and let you make the same mistake as I did in such a case?" Eva said as her eyes softened.
Amaterasu was deeply touched by this. "A sister… Well, I've never truly had one like the way mortals do. I see them and envy them for their familial bonds, but ours are a bit…"
Both Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi smiled bitterly.
"Whatever the case, we'll try to meet at least one request of yours." Tsukuyomi offered nobly.
After all, they didn't want to aggregate karma. It was a foreign concept to mortals, but True Gods lived on a give and take system with their followers. The True Gods Eva knew had lost this ability after the old war and had been forced to recede into heaven, but Amaterasu and co were still active.
They empowered their followers, interacted with them, and received their faith energy for sustenance. It formed a beneficial relationship for both parties, but the amount of 'debt' they owed Eva was too great to ignore.
If she were a mere mortal, they could toss her something of value and let it go, but she was an alternate Amaterasu who was suppressing her divinity - which was what the two deities assumed - so they couldn't afford to skimp.
Eva spent some time pondering before sighing. "Truth be told, I lost my three sacred regalias during an intense battle and have been weakened ever since. It would be great if I could get them back, or something like them at least, to stabilize myself here in your world."
Amaterasu tilted her head. "Three regalia?"
"Yes, the sword Kusanagi no Tsurugi, the mirror Yata no Kagami, and the jewel Yasakani no Magatama. Eventually, they would be named the Three Regalia and treated as heirlooms of the nation that forms after Shinoka Continent is united." Eva revealed calmly.
Amaterasu touched her necklace and her mirror, and then turned to Tsukuyomi. The Moon God shook his head with a frown. Amaterasu faced Eva again and asked.
"A sword? Neither I nor Tsukuyomi have that."
"You won't receive it anytime soon. Susanoo would bring it back after he redeems himself, and you must claim it from him then to increase your attack power." Eva explained.
Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi shared a look of surprise, but nodded. They had never even entertained the possibility that the uncouth idiot could ever amount to anything special and would actually bring back something so powerful, but the future was always unpredictable.
Amaterasu hesitated though. "So you need all three of them?"
Eva nodded without hesitation. "Yes, with them, I would be able to emulate a strong amount of my sealed power and bring justice to my universe along with my revived husband. There are extraterrestrial invaders that seek to spread chaos currently attacking my universe, which is why I've come to his world seeking means to increase my power."
Eva smiled at Amaterasu with hope and concealed joy. "I never expected to meet my own sister here, and this could be considered the best outcome for me."
Amaterasu shuddered but still gritted her teeth and passed over the necklace as well as the mirror. "Take them, sister. After hearing your plight, I cannot pretend to be selfish anymore. With peace brought to Shinoka, I don't see myself fighting any time soon."
"Besides, I have someone with me now." Amaterasu added gently as she gazed lovingly at Tsukuyomi beside her. The Moon God immediately felt his testosterone flare as he acted manly and dependable, making Amaterasu giggle.
"It should be fine. I wish you good luck in your fight... sister." Amaterasu reiterated to Eva with a calm expression. She was slightly pained by having to give up her items, but it was pretty minor in the end because she was giving them to herself basically.
Eva thanked her 'sister' and even hugged her. The trio spent some more time talking as well as sharing information before Eva waved and left with the Four Beauties on Luxia's back.
Since they were done with Shinoka, Luxia headed back to Cario Continent straightaway. All the while, Zaine, Hikari, and Roma had been silent. They did not dare look at Eva anymore, for fear that their image of their Big Sis would crumble in their minds.
Eva, and the remnants of Amaterasu, in her were extremely embarrassed as they wore heavily flushed expressions, but they shook it off by staring at the two items she managed to swindle- *cough* acquire from this world's Amaterasu.