euthymia

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something felt wrong.

hovering gently above the ground, in the center of the plane of euthymia, was a body. her breathing was slow, yet raggedy, as her legs stayed crossed before her. raiden ei was meditating, or at least - she was trying to.

her head twitched left, then right, then left again. what was going on? ei's mind was usually engulfed in darkness, which was a good thing, whenever she meditated. but this darkness was different - much different. flashes of memories drove on in her mind, invading her space as she struggled to calm down.

' everything happened so suddenly... i'm sorry. ' makoto's voice rang through the god's ears as a vision of her mangled dead body flickered in ei's head. although it was only for a moment, the view of makoto's body was something that ei erased from her head years ago. she couldn't help but wonder why it was coming back to her memories.

the archon twitched her head to the right. "stop.." she winced, the shut on her eyes tightening. the uncomfort in her body was slowly reaching her peak

' i know that this must've been an extremely arduous journey for you... ' flashes of the cataclysm this time. seeing the red fire blaze into the sky as the entire city of khaenri'ah was in shambles. if ei was to be completely honest, it was a terrifying sight to witness. sometimes, the god herself would have flashes of a ruined inazuma. what if it was inazuma that fell that day? the archon's breathing began to speed up, and her head twitched left.

"makoto.. please.." the words barely escaped ei's lips as her whole body began to tremble. she needed to break from her meditation, but she couldn't. the difficulty of breaking meditation in a place made to escape worries was most definitely high.

' you must've wanted to shed many tears along the way. ' oh how ei wanted to cry terribly in so many trying times. now was most definitely a time to cry. flashes of ei herself, in her dark room in her manor, crying in front of a broken mirror. that was the last time she had cried. after the war ended. after the cataclysm was no longer the talk of the crowd. it was a moment that ei wanted nobody to know about. nobody but her and the shogun.

thunder began to crackle and pop in the sky of the plane, and the floor rumbled. "makoto, don't leave me!" ei choked out, her fists clenching. her nails dug into her own flesh, and wine red blood slowly dripped down to the floor of the plane, causing ripples. the ground shook once more, and a flash of lightning lit up the sky for a moment.

' this time.. it really is goodbye, ei. '

"makoto-!" ei cried out. her eyes opened wide. revealing purple hues, but they were bloodshot. she dropped to the floor, her loose braid coming undone. her clothes soaked in the water of the plane. ei trembled, feeling tears swelling up in her eyes.

just as she was about to succumb to the pressure of it all, she heard a familiar voice. "well, i certainly expected something distressing, but not as distressing as this."

yae miko. ei stared down at the floor as she slowly picked herself up, rapidly blinking to keep the tears out. it was useless though, miko was the god's familar after all. that sly kitsune will always be able to tell if a shift in ei was occuring - such as now. ei took in a deep sniffle and shifted her gaze back and forth, no longer feeling tears in her eyes. she sighed as she walked over to miko, who folded her arms and shifted her weight to her right foot.

miko looked ei up and down, expressionless. "well, are you going to tell me what happened or not?" she spoke quickly, sternly, but the hint of worry was still present. "it's a very uncomfortable process to get here," the kitsune added, tilting her head slightly. ei hesitated for a moment, a very long moment at that. her glowless, purple eyes stared into the kitsune's mauve hues. the god fiddled with her slender fingers, thinking of what to do. her wet attire released water droplets, which made light-sounding ripples in the water on the ground. and without much movement, miko shifted her weight into her left leg. thunder cracked in the sky again. the clouds in the plane moved a bit faster now, would it start raining? the kitsune shifted her gaze into the endless, red sky, but quickly looked back at ei.

"nothing's wrong," the god responded coldly. "apologies for worrying you, i was just having trouble meditating." well, she wasn't really lying. she was indeed having trouble meditating, but would she explain why? of course not. miko furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. the kitsune knew that it was much more than that. but she also knew that ei was a woman who kept things to herself. it wouldn't be worth it to stay in the plane for so long trying to pry open a safe with no combination. ei was always a tough one to crack.

"we both know that isn't the only explanation for you causing a disturbance in the sky of euthymia.." miko unfolded her arms and walked closer to ei, she walked around the god. "..but you are a very difficult person to speak to, so i won't pry any more. despite it all," the kitsune sighed. ei's eyes and head turned with every one of miko's movements around her person, slowly dropping her hands to her sides, feeling her wet clothes. "despite it all.. i worry for you. whenever you're ready, you can come to me with any concerns." the worry and emotion was truly present in the kitsune's eyes now. deep down, beside all of miko's facades, she had high empathy for her god.

miko stopped circling the archon and stood in front of her, poking her upper chest playfully. "although i'm not the best with advice, i will listen. and i will do my best to help." ei folded her arms and tilted her head, a soft chuckle escaping her pale pink lips. a smug smile crept up miko's own lips, speaking once more, "after all, i'm your familiar, it's what i do."

and with that, the kitsune disappeared. ei's smile faded and she unfolded her arms, letting out a long sigh. "thank you, miko." she turned back to the sky of the plane, seeing the lightning flash away and the low rumbling of thunder come to a stop. she looked back at the very center of the plane, contemplating. ei's eyes flickered left, right, and back to center. she wouldn't do it. she would take a break from meditation and exit the plane of euthymia. maybe it was finally time to take a break from the loneliness. the dark, desolate plane. the beginning and end of all things. the infinite vortex between space and matter itself. she needed to go out. perhaps it would do her good.

closing her eyes, ei allowed her consciousness to travel into the puppet's body, into the shogun's body. there was no feeling of resistance from the shogun herself.

as she slowly adjusted to being in the shogun's body, the sun shone aggressively through dark purple curtains, attacking ei's closed eyes and forcing them to open.

her body then slowly rose from under dark covers and now rested in a sitting position. she rose once more and took herself out of bed. once out of bed, ei stumbled a little around her bedroom until she came across her washroom's door, reaching out to slide it open before going in to get ready for the day.

minutes had passed after ei entered the washroom and eventually the door slid open, revealing a refreshed raiden ei. she had done her long hair into her usual loose braid, and changed into her usual attire from the yukata the shogun was wearing in her sleep.

ei needed this day. perhaps she would stay in possession of the body for more than a day, who knows. a soft smile crept up her face as she stepped around her room, stopping to stand in her mirror. she stood there, playing with her bangs a bit.

the face of eternity, makoto, flashed before ei's eyes. her purple hues widened a little, and she tensed up. ei closed her eyes and let out a sigh, and once again opened them to see herself.

it's a new day.