Chapter Text
Raiden Ei was a hungry ten year old with a scorching fever when the Archons above blessed her on that day with an Electro vision.
She had laid there in the heap of hay at the barn, ill in such a tiresome way all underfed children inevitably felt as she convinced herself she was on the verge of death. All she had was her twin sister, Makoto. They had no money to buy medicine. No permanent home in the village and only the caretaker of a milling company who was kind enough to give them shelter in exchange for them taking shifts plowing and farming grains at the fields.
If she had died that day, Ei swore no one would ever miss her. She was just one out of many orphaned children in Konda Village who barely survived off of squabbling with merchants at the marketplace as a distraction while her sister secretly stole a fruit or two from their wooden carts.
She had sighed a heavy, strained breath. She stared up at the thatchet of the barn and closed her eyes, hoping Makoto would be willing to mark her grave properly should she pass.
Until the Archon came.
Only Makoto had been there to witness the miraculous event. It was unlike anything she had ever seen. An Archon from Celestia came down upon Ei’s feverish body and stared at her with an expression anyone could mistake for love. A surge of electricity shook Ei’s figure and her neck snapped as though a vampire had bitten it — shockwaves of power so strong it flowed downwards even to the tips of her fingers until her empty hand was replaced with an emblem carrying a glowing purple crystal.
In a flash, the Archon had vanished along with Ei’s fever. Someone else was born that day, even though she hadn’t known it yet — Raiden Ei, Inazuma’s Saint of War.
And this was her tale.
“You…” Makoto gasped, speechless over what she had just seen, “You’re…Ei, you’re part of the Gentry now! You have a vision! Do you know what this means?”
“I’m…I’m part of the Gentry.” The words came out of Ei like a hoarse whisper as she was stuck in a moment of dawning realization ; of what this power entailed and what it would mean for her and her sister’s futures, “We’ll be taken care of, Makoto!”
Makoto broke into sobs, engulfing her younger twin into a tight embrace, “We’ll find a home, Ei. And I promise to take care of you! I love you.”
“I love you too.”
A rags to riches tale like that was worth writing ballads about. And two sisters finding magic flowing through one of them was worth being adopted into the home they deserved.
That was how the Raiden sisters found themselves, no longer than two weeks after the discovery of Ei’s vision, within the Kato residence deep within the main trading center of Tenshukaku. They had been welcomed lovingly by the wedded couple into their abode and proclaimed as their new daughters, along with another son they had adopted who was eight years younger than the twins, a mere toddler who coincidentally shared a similar hair color as the Raidens, Kunikuzushi.
This was the family Ei had dreamed of for so long. It had always seemed far-fetched, but this was reality now. And she’d be damned if she ever let anyone get in the way of destroying this family.
Their new mother, Misaki Kato, was a chef in Liyue before she had moved to Inazuma to be with her husband. Luckily enough, she had kept her recipe books and made her living here through a restaurant she had established just two blocks away from their home. Business was booming and Makoto often found herself buying ingredients on her early morning runs for Kato Kitchen, of which many citizens from nearby villages flocked to for signature Inazuman dishes with a Liyue-inspired twist (a hint of Jueyun Chili was always in them, somehow.)
Their father, Hanzo Kato, was second in rank to Chief Kujou Takayuki in the Tenshukaku Army. Ambitious and stoic, under his guidance, Ei was later enrolled in self-defense and martial arts classes. Of course, her father would not forget to drill her into the nuances of the law.
Intense training even under harsh weather conditions and fighting with wooden swords at the late hours of the evening with her father were all worth it to build Ei into the formidable, capable, opinionated and independent woman she was meant to be — for the Gentry.
The Gentry, a class Ei was fortunate to now belong in. Considered second to royalty and nobility, her kind were gifted by the gods of Celestia their respective elemental visions and were thus required to utilize their powers along with being well-practiced in the famed sword art of the Musou no Hitotachi, ready to protect the frontlines of Inazuma when they became of age.
Two years of training with her father prepared Ei for the next pivotal moments of her life. By age twelve, all known Gentry were required to be sent everyday to school at the Royal High Court of Narukami, the palace that houses royalty at the peak of Mt. Yougou. There, Ei would study the history of Inazuma, the constellations in the sky and their meanings, the medicinal properties of local herbs and sea ganoderma, languages and sword fighting.
On her first day, Makoto insisted on doing her hair. She had managed to tie Ei’s purple locks into a slightly loose updo held together by two hair ribbons.
Ei slumped her shoulders, looking at herself weirdly at the mirror “Are the ribbons necessary? I look childish.”
“Maybe because you are a child.” Makoto retorted, “Besides, you need that innocent look. Without the ribbons, your classmates would be terrified to approach you, I bet.”
“Are you saying I’m ugly?”
“No, I’m saying no one will befriend you if you always look like you’re planning someone’s murder in your head. I know you spend a lot of time with Father, and you’re basically living in his world of violence, but don’t let him get into your head.” Her sister advised, then calling on their younger brother who was playing with blocks on the carpeted floor, “Kuni, dear! Sister looks pretty with her hair, doesn’t she?”
Eyes fixed on his toys, the toddler deadpanned, “Yeah, yeah. Sister is pretty.”
Ei tried to get the words out until her twin cut her off, “He’s not even listening. You know he doesn’t mean th—”
“Oh, would you look at that? Your carriage ride is here!”
When she had finally arrived at the Royal Court, her first class was an Introductory Lecture on Gentry Etiquette 101 on a mossy grove under the palace’s clock tower.
Due to her own negligence of forgetting her map of the palace, she had been lost within a series of twists and turns from the shrine to the right wing, ending up to her first class embarrassingly late.
As if the chain of misfortune wasn’t bad enough already, she stumbled on a half-submerged rock along the path towards the grove, creating a loud splash with her right foot as her left foot simultaneously cracked a branch.
Hushed whispers were heard, heads were turned, and her teacher who was a middle aged woman with red rimmed glasses paused her discussion to glare at her up and down, “And that, my children, is not a very Gentry-like way of making an entrance. Would you agree, Princess Yae?”
A velvety yet wicked voice responded, and garnered all of Ei’s undivided attention that very moment, “Yes, Miss Hirai. All Gentry should learn to glide when they walk, to disturb no leaf or branch. This is a critical skill should they attempt to follow an enemy in the battlefield without being caught.”
“Very good, you paid attention.” Miss Hirai applauded the girl who had just spoken briefly before acknowledging Ei’s presence, “Miss Raiden Ei, is it? We’ll talk about your tardiness later but please, take a se—”
Cutting off the teacher, the princess had shamelessly continued her statement in a much louder, mocking tone, “Such unrefined behavior, really. A scene like this on the first day should be worth reconsideration, should it not, Miss Hirai? What did the court expect dirty orphans to do in the Gentry anyway?”
Two words. Two words were all it took to set off the ticking bomb of rage in Ei’s system.
Clenching her fists, Ei seethed towards the princess, “What did you just call me?”
“Ah, sorry. Would you like me to say it again?”
“Say it to my face.”
Ei did not think twice about grabbing the pink haired girl by her dress’ collar and forcing her upward to face her — a decision she would regret because she was not arguing with any ordinary princess from the other isles in the kingdom, but one of the Kitsune Princesses.
Oh, Archons.
She had no idea how inhumanly beautiful the Kitsune were, until this moment. Until she felt her heart tumble down through her ribs and hit the ground.
If the Gentry was already deemed as such a high class, then the Kitsunes are in a much higher class than them—the group of magical beings with indomitable wit and the inability to lie that ruled over all isles of Inazuma.
Born from the Hakushin Clan who were responsible for leading in the Civil War between Orobashi and Watatsumi Island, the Kitsune lineage continued for centuries until the present family maintained their reign over the kingdom — the current Lady Guuji, the King, their two sons and four daughters.
Ei recalled her father introducing her to the members of the Royal Family. The eldest, Prince Aizen, was heir to the throne. The second was Princess Kimiko, who often made appearances at Port Ritou and was responsibly dealing with foreign merchants to push her initiative forward of accelerating Inazuma’s trade with other nations. The third was Princess Saiguu, the first child of the family to be a member of the Gentry. Although an alumni of the Gentry class, she possessed an Electro Vision and is regularly spotted doing rituals with shrine maidens at the Grand Narukami Shrine.
The second son and the fourth child was Hideo, and word said he was skilled in the martial arts. The two youngest daughters were not often heard about. Considering their age, they rarely made appearances, and were thus only known by name. Princess Fumiko was the third daughter and the second youngest.
As Ei stood frozen, hand resting on the collar of the slightly shorter girl before her, realization befell on her like a painful, vengeful truck slammed her form into consciousness.
Pink hair, kitsune ears, lilac eyes that twinkled with mischief and a playful smirk that dangled along her lips — Ei was face to face with the youngest princess.
Yae Miko.
“Right…” Yae Miko had shuddered slightly against Ei’s grasp, but regained her composure with a smug grin, “I called you a dirty orphan. You have lakewater and mud on the hems of your dress, so I’m not totally wrong, am I?”
Ei huffed, the grip on her collar had tightened in an attempt to ground herself from hitting the girl with a punch or two to hopefully knock the jerk attitude out of her. The princess only grinned wider, eyes glaring at her with a look that said, Go on, try to hit me.
“Enough, the both of you!”
Even if Miss Hirai had disrupted the argument between them and called out the princess for her out-of-line comments that day, it would not be the last of Yae Miko’s torment towards Ei.
It was just the beginning.
Ei had never met someone as ridiculously smug and heartless of a woman as the pink haired menace, a devil draped in princess’ finery she would spend the next years in school with constantly bearing her harsh insults like an open, bleeding wound.
A little birdie had told her the princess behaved in her spoiled, bratty nature not only because she was the youngest of her family, but because of the pressure she was dealing with from Saiguu who berated her for her weak swordsmanship skills which caused her to lash out and project her insecurities towards someone else. Ei could attest to the fact she’s witnessed Yae Miko perform poorly during their Musou No Hitotachi training, but it still begs the question.
Why her? Why must she be the target of torment when all she wishes is to find her place in their court?
Fourteen year old Ei sat in front of her dresser, finding a set of pajamas to wear before heading to bed. She had complained to Makoto about recent happenings in school, how she failed to finish taking down notes on the First Civil War of Inazuma, to Yae Miko kicking dirt towards her food when she was eating during snack breaks and her unlikely circle of friends.
“I lost track and stopped writing as soon as Miss Ishikawa just started reciting the list of the victims of the war. It’s impossible to focus when her voice is so monotonous!” She moved one hand along the line of hangers, ranting on as she continued, “Anyway, I figured if I’d ask Kokomi if she has a complete copy of notes, she’d be kind enough to lend them to me.”
From their shared bed, Makoto tilted her head questionably, “Kokomi, that priestess from Watatsumi Island? I thought you’d mentioned before that she was friends with Yae Miko.”
At the mention of that particular name, Ei rolled her eyes and sighed, “Archons, it’s confusing. I don't know how Kokomi technically became a part of that girl’s…Court of Jerks! She’s a sweetheart, really, but I guess the powerful and elite can’t be helped from being friends with the likes of one another.”
Makoto chuckled, “It’s amusing, you know.”
Ei turned to look at her, raising a brow, “What?”
“How the princess pisses you off so much!” Her sister laughed, having expected Ei to know the answer like it was the most obvious thing in the world, “Sometimes I wished I was Gentry myself just to watch the two of you argue like kids on a playground pulling on each other’s pigtails! Any other citizen of Inazuma would kill to even have a millisecond of attention from royalty, and here you are cussing out Yae Miko to me every night, every time she so much as breathes near you.”
“That reminds me…” Ei’s left hand fell to her hips, her right reaching to pinch her nose bridge in exasperation, “That gremlin kicked on the lunch you prepared for me today. I just sat by the grove, minding my own business, brought the basket you gave me with the lavender melon salad, opened it and suddenly she was there and kicked dirt right on my food. Dirt, it’s where you came from, orphan! is what she said.”
“Can she really not come up with any other insult? I feel like that’s all she calls you.” Makoto made a lighthearted attempt to divert her sister from the comment, but understood she was still hurt by it. Who wouldn’t? “I’m really sorry she keeps treating you that way, Ei.”
Ei turned away to grab a set of clothes from her dresser before closing it, “It’s fine it’s just…I am Gentry too, am I not? So what if I came from dirt, from nothing? The archons gave me a vision! The same power all of them have! We’re equals here, so why do I feel lower than the rest of them? Yae Miko ; she has all the light and glory of the world, all hers for the taking.”
Barely audible as it was, a sob still escaped her lips, “Is it too much for people like me to want a bit of that light for ourselves?”
And although Makoto only bore the brunt of hearing about her twin’s hardships of the Gentry experience, she still offered to do anything she can to cheer up her twin.
“How about this…since you seem so hot-headed, let’s have a late night swim at Chinju Forest, yeah? Let off some steam and talk under the moonlight.”
Ei hesitated, but Makoto interrupted her before she could ask, “Yes, I’ll inform Father we’ll head out. Now go pick a bathing suit.”
When they had gotten permission and spent no less time running out to find a youkai to help them teleport to Chinju Forest, Makoto spent their trip to the lake entertaining Ei.
“You know, since Yae Miko doesn’t seem to stop, you should really get back at her and her circle of jerks by now.” Makoto nudged Ei on the shoulder, “The last time you talked about an argument with her, Kuni overheard you. He talked to me later that night and said he saw her with Princess Saiguu when his pre-school went on that field trip to the shrine.”
Ei raised a brow, “Where are you going with this?”
Makoto moved closer towards her to whisper, “He saw her tail! Apparently, it unfurls like a whip and it comes out when she gets surprised or nervous.”
Ei stopped in her tracks briefly, scoffing in disbelief. Yae Miko? Surprised? Nervous? That girl who could care less when she drops her sword in a fight and gets up from the ground like she still won that round? She thinks of herself too highly, Ei thought. She couldn’t imagine Yae Miko ever being nervous in front of an eligible bachelor from another kingdom or better yet, interacting with normal people.
“What’s the deal then? She is a kitsune, it’s normal for her to have a tail.”
Makoto rolled her eyes, “You missed my point, silly. I’m saying if you rile her up enough to get her in shock or make her nervous, her tail is bound to show and she’ll be so embarrassed!” She giggled, “It’s a perfect plan of trying to get back at her.”
“Fine, I’ll consider it. But I’ll retaliate in my own wa-”
Ei’s foot bumped into a small tanuki statue, signaling her to turn her gaze towards the body of calm lapping water that now appeared before them.
They had reached the lake in a quiet, secluded corner of the forest. For a location rumoured to be once a home of demons, the atmosphere was tranquil — perfect for a late night swim. When she and Makoto had gotten into their bathing suits, immersing themselves into the water slowly, incoherent whispers started to sound closer.
What a way to shatter her illusion of what could’ve been a perfect night.
“Makoto, do you hear that?”
The older twin swept her wet hair away from her face, “What? The demons? You know that’s just a fake story the elders use to scare children off from coming here.”
Ei’s breath hitched slightly. They were getting closer.
“Oi Miko, you can’t keep sneaking out every night just to escape your sister.”
“Ayato’s right, Miko! You could get grounded, or worse…”
“Kokomi, this isn't the first time I've done this. So much complaining…and yet you all accompany me anyway! Besides, I need to wash off this wound on my arm.”
“The one from today’s training in class earlier when Ei grazed your arm with her sword? See, maybe if you spend your nights practicing instead of loiteri—”
“Oh shut it, Sara! I went out here to clear my head, not get an earful from you. Don’t piss me off by starting to sound like Saiguu.”
Ei was about to call on Makoto to hurry along and leave, but it was too late. Underneath the sacred moonlight, that momentary peace was destroyed when Yae Miko and her Court of Jerks, as Ei dubbed them so, arrived at the lake.
Yae Miko sat by a partially submerged rock to dip her arm into the freshwater, but when the fog had dissipated, the corner of her eye spotted a familiar head of purple hair staring at her from the other side of the lake.
Her eyes turned away from the wound on her flesh to meet Raiden Ei’s gaze. The reflection of the moonlight bouncing from the water perfectly framed the roundness of her face. With her hair wet and her bodice soaked in a bathing suit, she looked so…vulnerable. So harrowingly vulnerable.
And yet Yae Miko watched her take a step back, one arm shielding her twin behind her. This was the Raiden Ei she had been fearful of, although she might not evidently show it, in a sparring match or battle. This was her truest form — conspiratorial and bravely daring as ever.
And Yae Miko hated it. Hated her. Her potential for greatness.
It was almost beautiful. She was almost beautiful.
Almost.
But her train of thought didn’t seem to align with her body with the way she reacted. Not when it registered in her brain Ei stared at her with those trivial eyes and saw her in a state of weakness, having caught her attempt to heal a wound that she caused earlier that day. Especially not when she jolted backwards in shock, flustered and unaware that her tail appeared and curled itself open.
Zap!
“Archons!” The mix of water and sparks of electro from her tail stung her and searing pain blasted all throughout Miko’s body. She bit her lip hard until her tail tucked itself back in before lunging forward to grab Ei by the shoulder.
She didn’t care that her friends were watching. She didn’t care that her nightgown was drenched in water now. All she cared about was wiping that defiant grin off of Raiden Ei’s face.
“You! What are you doing here?! Sneaking off to the palace at this hour, my my, how livid would the Tenshukaku Assistant General be if he heard about his daughters trespassing?”
Ei scoffed, pushing the shorter girl’s hand off of her, “Unlike you who snuck off to escape her sister, we asked permission from Father to leave. And this isn’t trespassing, Chinju Forest is outside palace grounds. This lake isn’t yours, Miko.”
Miko’s jaw fell slightly agape, She heard us? “Eavesdropping on conversations that don’t concern you? And here I thought you couldn’t get any worse.”
From behind, Ei heard a male voice join in on Yae Miko’s provocation.
“Interesting.” Even in his nightwear, Kamisato Ayato commanded the room like his father, the current Yashiro Commissioner. If Yae Miko was head prankster, he would be her subordinate. He was just another of those elite members of society that looked down on those weaker than them, except masked it with a facade of responsibility. He squatted towards their level, eyeing Miko and the Raidens from the edge of the lake where water meets land. “There are so few children of Inazuma to be twinned. Tell us, Ei. Does it feel like you’ve been doubled or divided in half?”
Ei doesn’t answer him. This was just another of their mind tricks. If they so much as think about harming a hair on Makoto, she’ll beat them to a pulp. Ei swore it.
“Come on, you two. It’s too late at night to be doing this.” Kujou Sara, daughter of Chief Kujou Takayuki, called out. Ei met her emotionless gaze. Cold and quiet as the girl was, she felt it. They shared a mutual degree of respect for each other, knowing their fathers worked side by side. Sara pitied the way she’s been constantly humiliated, even just a little bit. “Miko, wash up and get home.”
“Don’t be a killjoy now, Sara.” Ayato whined, head snapping to meet Makoto’s shaken and nervous figure, “You…Makoto, is it? Come up to the bank and kiss me on the cheek. Then kneel in front of your Princess and worship her. Do what your sister forbids herself from doing no matter how many times we torment her, and we’ll spare you both.”
Makoto tried to speak, but Ei retorted at him in her stead, “Leave my sister out of this! She did nothing!”
Ayato pouted, looking bored. “Was the request for a kiss too much? Fine…Miko, enchant her. Let her confess she forsakes her sister, then we’ll leave you alone.”
Makoto stood frozen, calling Ei in a hoarse and heartbroken whisper, “I would never say that, Ei.”
Breaking the intense staredown she had between Ayato and Yae Miko, Ei looked over at Makoto. It was her fault her sister was now wet and scared, all when she had wished for was to unwind with her for the evening. The lake was still cold and the current was strong, and she would refuse to ever let her sister be involved with what she’s dealing with from the Gentry.
It was Ei’s fight and her fight alone.
“It’s alright, Makoto. You can say it.”
“Finally,” Yae Miko trudged towards Makoto, grabbing her by the chin to face her. Without a second to spare, the kitsune’s eyes shot open and her eyes glowed purple like a pillar of beaming light, lips opening to spill words that would put her in a trance, “Say I forsake my sister, Ei. I hate her. I curse her to a life of violence and may blood on her hands haunt her to the end of her mortal life.”
Makoto was trapped in a bewitching spell, and there was no stopping her from saying it without remorse, “I forsake my sister, Ei. I curse her to a life of violence and may blood on her hands haunt her to the end of her mortal life.”
As soon as the spell broke, Makoto wasted no time pulling Ei away from her enemies and up to the bank. She grabbed her into an embrace, sobbing on her shoulder, “I’m so sorry, Ei. You know I don’t mean it. You’re no killer, and you will never be.”
From the lake, Yae Miko stared at them, gaze powerfully hungry and devouring. And Ei understood that this wasn’t the least of what they could do.
Even as Ei held her sister’s shivering figure, even as they managed to leave unscathed, the princess’ left them both a lasting message that shaped Ei’s mindset for the years to come.
“Go! Go on that shameful walk home. See what I can do with a few words to you? I could’ve done worse. I could’ve enchanted you to bark like a dog or to faint as soon a mere tune of a song reaches your ears.” Yae Miko’s next words sounded like a bold promise for herself, instead of a cruel reminder, “I am immortal. You’re a fragile little thing. I will break you. You don’t belong here with us, and I’ll stop at nothing until you give up.”
Although Ei had slept soundly that night, despite her twin’s cold exterior pressed against her as she hugged Makoto to sleep, Ei had made her decision.
At eighteen, she will attain knighthood. She will attain power. She will come of age and win the Musou No Hitotachi tournament, and defeat every creature that has belittled her.
Her name, once nothing, known by no one, would be praised and toasted at every table. The same bards she once followed through the King’s halls would write ballads to glorify her name.
In her heart, she stopped yearning to be their equal. She yearned to best them. Yae Miko would cower in fear before her.
Fear itself would fear her.