Asahiko and the Three Voyagers

Once long ago in the distant land of Aomori, there was a prince named Tsuyomo Takeru. He was the son of the great Empress Tsuyomo Natsuko and her consort Lord-Prince Kujo Hachiro, and he was the handsomest and most noble lad in all the realms of the Chrysanthemum Ocean. All the princes and princesses and other royal heirs of these distant lands wanted to win his hand, but he kept to himself because he was waiting for his one true love to come along into his life, and none of the princes of Wancheng or Songnhieu or Pangaam or Sadhuvarta appealed to him in his heart. For he was looking for someone fairer still, more beautiful in soul than in body. 

And so it was that Prince Takeru remained single and celibate until his seventeenth year, when he was riding along the roads of his future lands and saw a rather ugly man bathing naked in a river stream. The man was burly and large and covered in more scars than one would expect for a man of two-and-twenty. And initially, there was great mistrust between Prince Tsuyomo Takeru and the mysterious Samurai, the heart of the Crown Prince was changed immensely when the mysterious warrior slew six Tengu in a single battle to defend the little village of Kinoshita from the Tengu’s depredations. It was after this battle that the Ronin introduced himself as Kajiya Hiyoshi, and explained how he had been a Ronin ever since a group of Oni had killed his family when he was seven years old. Takeru and Hiyoshi fell in love very swiftly after that, and they returned unto Nijo, capital city of Aomori, and they were married four years later when Takeru was one-and-twenty and Hiyoshi was six-and-twenty. And two years later, cancer of the stomach took Empress Natsuko away from the mortal world, and Takeru was now Emperor of the realm of Aomori. 

And yet, despite the love that they had for each other, Emperor Takeru and his husband Prince Hiyoshi were unable to conceive a child to succeed them upon the Lotus Throne. For many years, the two royal husbands tried desperately to have a child using every method that they knew from alchemy to sorcery and even unto consultations with the Great Divinities. Yet nothing worked for fourteen whole years until Prince Hiyoshi found a pair of mystical Azure Lotuses growing in the snows around Mount Sagarmatha and decided to bring both of them back to Nijo. The Emperor and his husband each ate one of the roses and became struck with love for each other as they gazed upon each other as if seeing each other for the first time ever. Without much hesitation, Takeru and Hiyoshi went into their Chrysanthemum Bedroom and stripped off every last inch of clothing till they were clad only in those clothes in which they were born. And then, with full passion emboldened by the power of the Azure Lotuses, the Emperor and the Shogun made love unto each other with the utmost vigour. And the Emperor’s womb was soon found to have grown, to put it moderately and mildly, very thick with child. And nine months later, a child was born who was neither male nor female, but rather possessed of both male and female organs and capable of becoming whatever gender they wanted to be. And because the child was born at the first light of dawn and filled his fathers’ lives with sunshine and love, they were named Asahiko, which is a strange name that combines the Aomori word for “Morning Sun” with the Aomori word for “Child”. 

And once their child and heir was born, all of both high and low estate were summoned to give gifts and honours to the newborn heir to the throne of Aomori. In particular, there were six powerful witches who were invited to give gifts unto the child. The first Witch gave the gift of wisdom, the second Witch gave the gift of beauty, the third Witch gave the gift of strength, the fourth Witch gave the gift of leadership, and the fifth Witch gave the gift of song. However, just as the sixth and final Witch was about to give the gift of Magic, there was a storm in the courtyard and a swarm of spiders emerged from the walls of the palace and formed themselves into the Dread Queen Zarena, the Dark Sovereign of the Dreamless Realm. Zarena had discovered that the ancient contract whereby a child of House Tsuyomo would marry her son Prince Veratum was not to be honoured by Emperor Tsuyomo Takeru or by his husband Shogun Kajiya Hiyoshi. And as punishment, Zarena called down a curse upon Asahiko wherein the child would die of an enchanted snake bite to her left heel before the stroke of midnight at the end of their eighteenth birthday. The horrified Royal Guardians tried to bind Zarena and slay her with their mighty swords, but she struck them down, killing fifteen of the Royal Guardians and critically wounding another ten of them. However, the Sixth Witch offered a way out of Zarena’s curse by explaining how True Love could break open the walls of any curse and destroy even the Power of Death Herself. 

However, Emperor Takeru and Shogun Hiyoshi were not taking any chances, and a campaign of war and violence was waged against all wild snakes who might threaten Asahiko’s life (However, this was somewhat foiled because many of Aomori’s denizens adopted non-venomous snakes as their own pets and cared for them as if they were dogs or birds or cats or rabbits). Furthermore, Asahiko themself was sent to live out in the woods in the company of an old carpenter named Takeshi and his two daughters Asuka and Kaede. 

Many sad and lonely years passed by for the Emperor, the Shogun, and their people, with their only comfort being rumours of Zarena’s continued wrath and frustration. And meanwhile, Asahiko grew into a happy and cheerful but also very wise and considerate child who loved all the living creatures made by the gods and had a particular affinity for foxes. Asahiko would often go for long walks in the woods around her village (much to her adoptive father Takeshi’s intense consternation and disgust). And one day when she was hunting with her sisters in the woods, Asahiko struck down a deer with his bow and then he and Asuka and Kaede brought it home to their shared father’s cottage. However, little did they know that they were being watched by none other than Prince Veratum son of Zarena, who had been ordered by his mother Queen Zarena and his father Prince Tamuzuud to kill Asahiko once and for all so that the curse could be fulfilled. However, Prince Veratum saw no point in pursuing this ancient and ridiculous feud, and so he deliberately mistimed all three of his arrows and sent them flying off into the ethereal blue sky above the forest. Unfortunately for him, Zarena and Tamuzuud found out about what they saw as their son’s “treason” and they struck him down with furious fire, reducing him into ash and cinders with a stroke of Zarena’s right hand. And then, with that having been done, Zarena transformed her husband into a vermillion cobra and sent him to attack Asahiko in her home, ordering him to bring them down before the stroke of midnight at the end of Asahiko’s eighteenth birthday. 

And so it was that Tamuzuud the Serpent stalked Asahiko and Asuka and Kaede on their way back to their cottage. And then he lunged upon them at the start of the day’s last hour. At the third minute of the last hour, he killed Takeshi the Carpenter and Himiko the Fisherwoman with a single bite on Himiko’s left hand and Takeshi’s right hand. Then at the halfway point between the fifth and the sixth minute, he bit Asahiko upon the throat. In a state of horror and disgust, Asuka set the wicked serpent on fire while Kaede pumped him full of one-and-twenty arrows, killing Tamuzuud at last. Unfortunately, Asahiko seemed as if she was dead. 

Asuka and Kaede rushed their beloved sibling to the city of Nijo in search of a healer, only to be intercepted by Emperor Takeru and Prince Hiyoshi on the way. The grieving rulers of the land recognised their daughter and finally explained the truth unto the sisters. Asahiko’s wounded body was placed to rest in a secret bedroom where none could find or disturb it, and though the councillors of the realm begged the Emperor and his husband the Shogun not to waste much time on their daughter’s life, Takeru and Hiyoshi called upon the Sixth Witch to cast a spell upon them and their entire court so that they would sleep in exalted beauty and wonder for as long as it took for their child to awaken at last. Before that, however, Emperor Takeru trusted his sword and mirror and necklace of sacred beads to the Minister of the Treasury, the High Treasurer Hanayama Miyako, crowning her as the new Empress of Aomori. And as the Spell of Deepest Sleep was cast over all of Nijo, Empress Miyako and her court travelled on their horses and in their carriages to the city of Hirano, now the seat of government and power in the Realm of Aomori. 

One-hundred-and-thirty-five years then passed as the Hanayama Clan continued to rule over the lands once ruled by Clan Tsuyomo. And in that time, the land still flourished and entered into a golden age of art and commerce, particularly with Samtang and Songnhieu and Wancheng. Hanayama Miyako was ruler of the land for eight-and-fifty years before she passed on to the Next World and left the throne to her eldest daughter Hanayama Masako. And Hanayama Masako was Empress of the land for six-and-twenty years and three months and fourteen days before she passed on and left the throne to her eldest scion Tsuneyo. And Hanayama Tsuneyo was sovereign of Aomori for twelve years and six months and sixteen days before they themself died of weariness and premature aging because of cancer of the heart and passed their throne unto their eldest scion Hanayama Daisuke, who ruled over the lands of Aomori for sixteen years and five months and seventeen days. And the last of the Hanayama lineage to reign as sovereign over the realm of Aomori was Daisuke’s eldest son Emperor Hanayama Yasuhiro, who reigned over these lands for twenty-three years and seven months and twelve days. 

And in this age of the Hanayama Dynasty, the Old City of Nijo became a site of great pilgrimage and holy reverence for the people of all the lands around the Chrysanthemum Ocean. From Samtang to Oiliath, many princes came to try their hands at waking the beautiful scion of the Tsuyomo lineage. However, none of them could pull it off, for the curse remained strong and powerful over the beautiful Asahiko. And so the curse remained strong, and Asuka and Kaede became more and more desperate to awake their fallen sibling, turning to ancient books of lore and occult mystery in an attempt to wake the Prince/Princess. It was only in the 135th Year of the Hanayama Monarchy that Kaede of the Spear discovered the truth of how to find a wise Jinn named Shamhurasha who could give them the solution to destroying the curse that held their beloved realm and sibling hostage. And so with her sister Asuka of the Sword and Kazuhiko of the Bow (only scion and heir to Emperor Hanayama Yasuhiro), Kaede of the Spear set off for Hirano and crossed the ship in a boat that took them to Samtang. 

Then did the Three Voyagers cross many lands and nations until they found the castle of Shamhurasha and her wife the Sixth Witch in the wild and mountainous lands of what is now Solvatia. And it was here that the Sixth Witch revealed unto the Three Voyagers that only The Truest Love of All could defeat the Power of Zarena’s Curse. Disappointed and left uncertain because of the Sixth Witch’s words, the Three Voyagers passed through Jylqyzan and Wancheng until they departed from Pan Yu and returned to Nijo. 

However, midway through their voyage home, the Three Voyagers were attacked by a Leviathan sent by the wicked Shemala Olomunkatil to punish the Voyagers for interfering with the schemes of her lifelong ally Zarena. For a long while, Kazuhiko and Kaede saw no reason to fight onwards against the Leviathan now that their quest to save Asahiko and the rest of Clan Tsuyomo had seemingly failed, but Asuka of the Sword refused to give up or give in to the darkness surrounding her, and so she lured the Leviathan up to the mast of the great ship on which they had stowed away and leapt from the top of the mast and sliced her way down the Leviathan’s neck, killing it swiftly and spreading its blood all throughout the sea. Unfortunately, the ship itself was sent crashing to the shores of Hongdao and there was no way to get back on the open ocean. So Prince Kazuhiko went to a tavern in the city of Anping and asked for a vehicle of transportation to take them home to Aomori. The old fisherman Jin Huan told them of a Phoenix who lived up on the Mountain Called Honghui. Her name was Ehuang and she could fly around the whole entire world in forty-five minutes. And so on the Fisherman’s suggestion, the Three Voyagers all ascended the Mountain Called Honghui and met Ehuang at its peak. Sadly, she was wounded gravely and could not fly, for there was a jewelled spear embedded in her left claw. Kazuhiko, being a virtuous prince, took pity on the Phoenix and used their powers of healing to remove the Jewelled Spear from the Phoenix’s Claw and they were amazed to discover that it was the same Jewelled Spear with which Tsukura and Eienoto were said to have raised all the islands of the Chrysanthemum Ocean, Aomori most of all. And with the Jewelled Spear, Kazuhiko healed Queen Ehuang’s wounds and in gratitude, the Phoenix Queen lifted all three of the Voyagers up onto her back and flew them to the vicinity of Nijo. 

Unfortunately, the Queen of Phoenixes was spotted by a group of Oni (Thirteen all in all) as she flew above the outskirts of Nijo, and they were able to shoot her down with a giant crossbow through the groin. The Oni then took the whole group captive and decided to have Ehuang cut up and eaten for dinner while the Three Voyagers would be returned unto Hirano for a hefty ransom. However, Kaede of the Spear was by fortunate chance a lover of riddles and so was Akatsuno King of the Thirteen Oni. So Kaede decided to sit down with King Akatsuno to do riddles and debate philosophy over the course of dinner. And within an hour and a half, Akatsuno decided to release Ehuang from her bonds and captivity and allowed Kazuhiko and Asuka and Kaede to travel onwards into Nijo. 

Soon enough did the Three Voyagers reach the Chamber of the Leaping Deer in which Asahiko was asleep and poured some of the Leviathan’s Blood and Ehuang’s Four Feathers into the drinking horn that King Akatsuno had given unto them and put the mixture unto Asahiko’s lips. And because this drink was laced with all the love that had driven the Three Voyagers to journey across the world and slay Shemala’s pet Leviathan and give succour and healing unto Queen Ehuang and give friendship and companionship and amity unto King Akatsuno to save their friend, it succeeded in breaking Zarena’s curse and Asahiko was finally awakened from her enchanted sleep. And then once he was awakened, all of the courtiers and royal family members around Asahiko also awakened from their sleep and dreams. And then at last were Emperor Takeru and Prince-Shogun Hiyoshi reunited with their beloved scion, and there was much love and rejoicing all around. 

Unfortunately, Zarena was soon made wholly aware of what had become of her once fearsome and terrible curse, and she turned into a sphere of purple fire and flew like a meteor unto Nijo’s beautiful harbour. In her state of endless ire and intense rage, Zarena dove into the sea as a ball of crimson fire and emerged as a great and terrible Sea Cobra whose head was all enshrouded in a hurricane of orange fire. And with this new and powerful form, Zarena unleashed a storm of raging fire and fiery winds upon the city of Nijo, laying waste to all in her path as she bit towards the Palace of Clan Tsuyomo. 

However, little did she know that there was in fact an unintended side effect to all of her machinations. For because she had imbued some of her own magic into Tamuzuud’s cobra form so that he could carry out her will and destroy Asahiko once and for all, some of the magic (or rather, almost all of the magic she had given unto her husband’s serpent form) had leaked into Asahiko’s veins and bloodstream, giving them large amounts of Zarena’s fearsome power. And during Asahiko’s thirteen-and-a-half decades of endless sleep, he had learned to walk in the Realm of Dreams and had seen much of the world during this time of endless rest, including learning how to survive in Zarena’s Dreamless Realm. As a result, he made the decision to take up the Jewelled Spear and enter the Dreamless Realm to confront the terrible Zarena. And there a fight began between Asahiko and Zarena, which ended when Asahiko finally drove the Jewelled Spear straight through Zarena’s heart, causing her to be torn apart by Light from the inside before shattering apart and exploding into shards of diamond crystal. 

Upon finally returning to the Mortal Realm, Tsuyomo Asahiko and Hanayama Kazuhiko married each other in a forest temple as Kazuhiko’s father Yasuhiro and his mother Matsudaira Eiko relinquished their crown and relics unto Emperor Takeru, who promptly reassumed the throne alongside his husband and reigned for another forty-six years before finally passing away at the biological age of three-and-eighty three years before his husband came to join him. And with his death, Asahiko became the new Sovereign of the land of Aomori and sat on the throne with Kazuhiko for six-and-seventy years and five months and thirteen days. During their time on the throne, Kazuhiko and Asahiko had two twin children, Mitsuru the Wisest of Priests and Kantaro the Great Warrior. Tsuyomo Mitsuru resigned their rights to the Lotus Throne and became a great philosopher-priest watching over a high mountain temple dedicated to the God of the Moon. However, Tsuyomo Kantaro remained in the Palace and trained to become the great ruler he was always meant to be. 

All the while though, there was the bittersweet knowledge that Asahiko was now immortal and would never age like her family, and he was forced to live forever and be eternally young and beautiful as his family grew old and tired around him. And on the fourth day of the eighth month of the seventy-sixth year of Asahiko’s reign, Kazuhiko finally passed away in his sleep from pneumonia and Asahiko knew it was time to resign the Lotus Throne. Eight days later, Prince Kantaro became the new Emperor of the Land of Aomori as his Womb Parent walked out to the harbour to find a boat to take them to new and distant lands. Kantaro of course reigned wisely and well for two-and-twenty years and eight months and eleven days before passing on and leaving the throne unto his son Tsuyomo Shigeru, who ruled for thirty-eight years and six months and thirteen days…yet Asahiko themself is still alive in the world, travelling all of Tellus having adventures and searching for the meaning of all existence in all the lands of humankind. May they indeed one day find it.

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