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Neither can remember the day they met, it was eons ago, and erosion has chipped away at those precious early memories. And to the ones that tell their story, the beginning is lost to time. But that doesn’t matter. The son of the god of thunder and the mysterious dragon of the mountain had a love for each other that transcended time and memories. They knew only that they belonged together, that they would always find each other in the valleys between mountains, under sunny or stormy skies. However, there once came a day where they would be forced to say goodbye.
“She no longer wishes to rule over Inazuma, and she wants me to take her place.”
“We always knew this day would come… It is why she created you, after all.”
“But I don’t want to.” Kunikuzushi felt like a child protesting against his mother’s wishes. He couldn’t even bear to look into Albedo’s solemn eyes, bluer than any river or sea. Instead, he buried his face into Albedo’s shimmering mane and listened to the low rumble of his draconic breath. “I want to run away and stay with you. She knows I do, I’ve told her, but she doesn’t care.”
“She has greater things to worry about than her son’s romances. And you have a duty that is much larger than this.”
“This isn’t some silly romance! And I don’t care about any of that! Why now, after all this time? I thought I’d be with you forever…”
“Forever… Eternity… It is a long time. Together, you and I have discovered things of this world that no one will understand. Our bond is one of them, and it won’t easily break just because you need to take her place. I’ll always be here, however long it takes. For now, I’ll give you this to remember me by.”
Albedo shook his magnificent mane and a single golden scale fell from his gleaming body into Kunikuzushi’s hands.
Years turned to decades, decades turned to centuries, yet every day that passed was filled with longing and heart ache. Kunikuzushi had to be the perfect god, to never abandon his post or his people, to always put them first. Yet every moment apart from Albedo chipped away at his resolve. On clear days, he would climb to the Grand Narukami Shrine to look over the ocean towards the snowy mountain peaking just over the horizon, while holding Albedo’s golden scale to his chest.
As eternity stretched on, bitterness and resentment crept its way into Kunikuzushi’s heart. He envied the common people that could freely leave the islands and wander the lands beyond the sea. He became colder, his rule over his nation turned cruel and tyrannical. No one understood his pain. No one understood he never wanted this, that this fate was not one he chose for himself. There came a day when he looked over the horizon towards that mountain, realizing he would never be reunited with the one he loved, and made the choice to never be reminded of Albedo again. The sky darkened with thunderous clouds and an unending storm enshrouded the islands. The violet skies and curtains of silver rain obscured the horizon, blocking out the view of the mountain so that Kunikuzushi could no longer torture himself by looking at it. He no longer had to suffer alone. Now his own people were trapped there with him, entering a dreary era of isolation that mirrored his lonely existence.
Albedo was no better. He roamed around the mountain, his anguished heart warping into something sinister and corrupted with every agonizing trickle of time that passed between them. He poisoned the land around him, mirroring his blackened heart. Maybe he was never meant to fall in love, maybe neither of them were. They felt pain greater than any other, and the consequences were deadly. Just as the islands and sea around Inazuma became treacherous, so did the mountain and the land surrounding it. The rivers froze over, the flora withered, hardly anything could survive the oozing corruption, and if it did, it became just as ugly and monstrous as Albedo’s pain.
In a distant nation, a war began to brew. Unlike the two lovers, it was not contained, but spread its malice across the lands, forcing humans, gods, beasts and everything in between to fight. It reached the mountain, and somehow it breached through the stormy seas and tainted Inazuma’s shores. Kunikuzushi had no choice but to partake. Despite everything, he couldn’t let his people die. It would have all been for nothing. For the first time in centuries, Kunikuzushi left the islands to assist his distant allies against their common enemy. It was easy to fight, to lose himself in battle, for he had nothing inside him but rage and sorrow to drive him.
He never expected to meet Albedo there of all places, in the midst of battle, his talons ripping bodies to shreds until every gold scale was tarnished with crimson. The world became still, the sounds of death silenced. Kunikuzushi moved across the field, stepping over corpses, slashing his blade through anything that got in his way, his gaze focused on the dragon as he thrashed his silky mane against foes. Albedo was a sight to behold. Eyes rolling madly, fangs bared and dripping with blood. The peaceful, docile dragon he remembered had transformed into something Kunikuzushi hardly recognized. Yet as terrifying as he had become, Kunikuzushi found him just as beautiful. Amongst the chaos, he felt himself becoming whole again with every step he took toward his beloved.
However, to his horror, a blade was struck right into Albedo’s throat, raining down shimmering spurts of blood upon his assailants. A deafening howl tore through Albedo’s fanged mouth that seemed to shake the very skies above them. Fury crashed like lightning within Kunikuzushi’s heart, and he ripped through the remaining distance, leaving a massacre in his wake. Albedo swayed where he stood, then fell heavily to the ground, his chest heaving, the sword still protruding through his blood-soaked scales. Kunikuzushi reached the one who had made the final blow, and with a swift swipe of his blade, cut off his head, letting it roll like a stone as his body fell to his knees at Kunikuzushi’s feet.
“Albedo!” Kunikuzushi rushed to his side, terror rapidly replacing the fury in his heart. Albedo’s eyelids fluttered and looked at Kunikuzushi with dazed confusion. His draconic pupil dilated upon focusing on Kunikuzushi’s anguished face.
“Kunikuzushi?” Though hoarse and broken from his wound, his voice was just as tender as Kunikuzushi remembered, a stark contrast from the roars and howls from just moments before.
“It’s me,” Kunikuzushi tried to smile, it felt so strange. He hadn’t smiled in so long, and he couldn’t get himself to do so now. His hands found the sword still impaled in Albedo’s throat, and they became soaked from his blood.
“You’re still so beautiful…” Albedo’s voice was quieter, his breath was shallow, blowing Kunikuzushi’s hair out of his face. “But… You look so sad.”
“Shh, don’t speak. You’re very hurt,” Kunikuzushi hated how his voice shook. “I don’t know how to help, I don’t have the power to help you… I only know how to…”
Kunikuzushi glanced around him. There was no one left. He alone decimated everyone in sight. They were nothing but a dying dragon and a helpless demigod at the center of a pit of death. He waited centuries to see him again, suffered to the point of breaking, believing he would never be reunited with him again, only to lose him in such a cruel act of fate.
“Oh, there’s no need to weep,” Albedo tried to move in an attempt to comfort Kunikuzushi, but hissed in pain.
“I can’t stop myself,” Kunikuzushi’s shoulders shook as tears streamed from his eyes, mingling with the drying blood on his face, creating stained rivers down his skin. “I’m going to lose you. All this time, even though we couldn’t be together, I still knew you were out there. What am I supposed to do knowing you’re gone from this world? You were the only beautiful thing in it.”
“I’m not going anywhere… I’m here. With you.”
A clawed paw reached for the sword in his throat, and Kunikuzushi panicked, trying to stop him.
“Don’t touch it!”
“It’s alright,” Albedo’s voice was fading, his breath was becoming too slow, his eyes couldn’t focus on Kunikuzushi anymore. He was too weak. His claws fumbled with the sword, unable to grasp it. “Help me…”
“If I take it out, you’ll die!” Kunikuzushi cried.
“I am already dying.”
“I just want one more moment with you. Please, I don’t want you to go yet.”
“Help me…”
He was suffering, Kunikuzushi knew. It was selfish to keep him there a moment longer. Breath shuddering in his chest, Kunikuzushi grasped the handle of the sword with shaking hands. He looked at Albedo’s face one more time, hoping he would change his mind and stay just a little longer.
“It’s alright,” Albedo said again. “I’m still here with you.”
Kunikuzushi stared at his hands gripping the sword through tearfilled eyes, readying himself. As he began to tug and drag the blade from Albedo’s throat, he swore to plunge it into his own chest. However, the moment the point of the blade parted from Albedo’s body, he began to change. His scales gleamed like twinkling stars, his talons receded, his body shrank. Kunikuzushi watched in wonder as Albedo’s draconic form shifted into the body of a young man. He still had a mane of hair like pale golden threads, and where the sword had been there was now a diamond shaped mark on his neck. But what took Kunikuzushi’s breath away was his face. He was angelic, with soft lips, golden lashes, and the waves of his locks falling over his cheek. His features were sharp and perfect, as if chiseled from marble, or perhaps chalk. Kunikuzushi leaned closer, carefully brushing Albedo’s hair out of his face, mesmerized by his beauty. To his disbelief, he saw the gentle rise and fall of his chest, no longer heaving, no longer bleeding. Kunikuzushi touched Albedo’s face and caressed his cheek, an odd sense of bliss overcoming him as he gazed down at him.
“Albedo…”
Albedo’s eyes fluttered open once more, and though they were a different shape, they were just as blue as before. A smile stretched upon his perfect lips, and without hesitation, he pulled Kunikuzushi down by his armor and kissed him. They had never kissed before, their love had been reserved in a level of intimacy that was never expressed through touch, but through words, time, and feelings that could not be put into words. Kunikuzushi felt as though the starlight of Albedo’s hair, scales, and skin shone within him. The violet lightning that surged within his own body sent currents through his lips and tongue into Albedo’s soft mouth, no longer lined with fangs. They melded into one another, reunited, or perhaps truly united for the first time. The poison of anguish that had corrupted Albedo’s heart dissolved into a warm light, while the stormy sea of Kunikuzushi’s torment calmed until the waters were still and shimmering with their shared light.
There was no telling how much time they embraced. Perhaps long enough for those slain around them to decompose and for grass, wheat, and flowers to bloom from their ribs, hiding away any sign that there was once a battle in that field. Or perhaps no time passed at all, and it was their own happiness and love touching the ground beneath them that spread throughout, bringing new life to the sea of malice and death.
“I told you,” Albedo murmured against Kunikuzushi’s lips. “I’m not going anywhere. Not without you, not ever again.”
An unfamiliar sound exhaled through Kunikuzushi’s lips, and he realized he was laughing. Smiling at last. It is not known what came of those two after that. There are rumors that they often wander hand in hand in faraway places, never too close to humans or gods, keeping their distance. They only ever wanted to be with each other, and whatever isolated place they found comfort in, they stayed there until they grew bored and moved on. Some say you can follow the path they walk. Wherever there is barren land or drought, first comes a gentle storm to wet the earth, then lilies bloom and leaves unfurl from white branches. The dragon never returned to the mountain. Kunikuzushi never returned to Inazuma, leaving his creator no choice but to resume her post as the Raiden Shogun. Though his disappearance was a mystery to everyone else, she found a golden scale still resting upon her son’s pillow and knew exactly who he had wandered off with.