Princess of Phantasms

  Chapter One: An Auspicious Birthday

  I

  Excitement brimmed from Kotoha’s head and to her toes. She unfurled the sheets from her body and jolted upward in her pink frilled nightgown. The young mistress strode to the bathroom of the giant Japanese-style manor to perform her morning ablutions. She didn’t powder her heart-shaped face, though she washed and cleaned the pores on her beautiful white skin that shone with an inner warmth befitting a princess. Once she finished, Kotoha strolled down the open hallway, where giant scrolls of kanji symbols rolled out and portraits of ancestors in gold-gilded frames bedecked the walls.

  She headed outside, the sun warming her forehead and lancing into her crimson eyes. A giant cherry blossom graced the manor’s middle ground, a portrait of pastel pink and white. The koi pond teemed with delightfully multi-colored fish whose scales glittered in the baking sun, swimming in the decorative waters lined with smooth, polished stones. While she enjoyed the sunshine, a hand pressed her shoulder. She glanced behind her to look upon a lovely black-haired woman in a white kimono with light blue embroidery around the edges. She could’ve been a courtesan of the emperor in the olden days. Her beauty surpassed that of most women, leaving men slack-jawed at her ovular face, her frosty blue eyes, snow-white skin, and cherry red lips which she distinctly used to cover the blue tinge. Her long-fingered hands wielded a particular, masterful grace when working at the loom. She wished to garden, though every time her hands touched plants, it would leave them in wilted frost.

  “Ojou-sama,” the woman in the white kimono said. “I know that you’re excited for today.”

  Kotoha’s eyes crinkled toward the woman in the white kimono.

  “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “Forgive me for being so straightforward, though I’m a practitioner of orthodox medicines and chiropractor as well as being a physician. Please consider your health.”

  “It’s all right, Miyuki,” Kotoha bowed, folding her hands demurely in front of her. “You don’t need to worry about my health so much.”

  “I do need to worry, Princess. Your health is of the utmost importance. It would bring shame and dishonor to my Youkai clan if I let Haruka Himemiya’s daughter pass away on the most auspicious and fortunate of days!”

  “I’m definitely in better shape than I have been, and training underneath Kasumi has led me to be hearty and hale. So I’m fine, really.”

  “You are strong, little Kotoha,” Miyuki said. “Though sometimes you push yourself harder than necessary when you really shouldn’t. At least let me brush your hair—there are some tangles in it.”

  Kotoha pouted a little, staring at Miyuki with red eyes. “I’m not a child anymore. This is the day that I grow to adulthood!”

  “You will take your mother’s place, “Miyuki said mildly. “We have every bit of confidence and faith in you, Ojou-sama.”

  Kotoha looked away with a huff, arms folded across her chest.

  “Could you stop mother-henning me, Mama Goose?”

  Miyuki smiled. “You must keep in mind that your powers are growing at a rapid pace and it can put a strain on your body. This will be the day that your mother will unleash the Flame Deity seal upon you and you will become the leader of the Youkai clans throughout Japan.”

  “Yes, my body has become stronger from when I was a little baby,” Kotoha said. “I’m not going to collapse all of a sudden from a seizure or something. You really worry too much, Miyuki.”

  “She has a right to worry,” another voice said.

  Kotoha turned and spotted Kasumi tiptoing from behind Miyuki. The two purple cat ears upon her head matched her long banner of lavender hair, swiveling and twitching. Her cat tail was also purple, splitting into two at the ends. A black bow holding her lavender hair in a fluffy ponytail matched a ribbon on her tail, near where the tail split.

  “Miyuki-chan is just a regular worrywart.”

  “I’m a professional doctor. I’m attuned to the Miss’s biorhythms and know her B/W/H measurements and—“

  Kasumi slapped a hand against Miyuki’s back, causing the Yuki-onna to quiver with barely restrained anger. The nekomata then turned to Kotoha, giving the birthday girl a wink, displaying one of her slightly different heterochromatic eyes—one a lilac similar to her hair color, and another a very subtle lavender pink.

  “Though to be honest,” Kasumi said with a grin, showing a bit of fang and rubbing a hand behind her head, tail swishing to and fro. “All of us were worried the day you were born and you had so much magical power flowing in your Flame Deity blood.”

  Kotoha groaned. “You told me this so many times, Kasumi!”

  “…Your mother needed to seal the power you held in your tiny body and wait for the day that you’ll mature and become strong enough to handle that much power inside your body.”

  “…A good morning to you, too. Would you like to practice some sparring with me?”

  “That should wait till later,” Kasumi chuckled. “Your Mother is making preparations for all the Youkai coming to the manor today. It’s going to be a grand celebration!”

  “Mother is really devoted to this.”

  “So, Ojou-sama,” Miyuki said. “It’s time I brush your hair and put you in more appropriate clothing.”

  “Do you want to put on cat ears so we match, twin-sy?” Kasumi said with a gentle laugh, bumping hips with Kotoha.

  Kotoha shook her head.

  “Maybe some other time.”

  Miyuki smoothed over her expression into its normal cool demeanor after Kasumi’s jocular antics. “That orange yukata with the yellow embroidery seems like it would be most fitting, wouldn’t it?”

  “Whatever you pick out, Miyuki, I’m sure it’ll be the best choice.”

  “Come, come, we need to make sure that you’re presentable to the rest of the Youkai clans that your mother leads.”

  “All right.”

  Kotoha then followed Miyuki into the changing room, where Miyuki picked out the yukata that flattered her curves the most. Miyuki did the sash around the waist, and Kotoha examined herself in the mirror. Long brunette hair flowed past her shoulders and down to her waist when it wasn’t bound up into an intricate ponytail style or in ringlets or braids, though Kotoha wanted her hair this way—in a long flowing banner, with no decorations or hair clips. The frills and lace and embroidery dressed her up as finely as a porcelain doll and Miyuki styled her hair in whatever manner she thought befitting for a princess.

  The Flame Deity Princess figured the most natural look was one that suited her best, much to Miyuki’s chagrin. Though as Kotoha did a half-twirl in front of the vanity mirror, she caught her breath catch as a flush reddened her cheeks like apples. It really was becoming, and Miyuki certainly had a refined sense of aesthetics when it came to clothing and fashion. Miyuki then proceeded to brush the tangles in Kotoha’s hair until it was silken and shone with sleek glossiness.

  “Thanks, Miyuki.”

  “Do you wish to have your hair styled in any particular way, or leave it as is?”

  “You don’t need to do it up in ringlets or any fancy hairstyle. It’s fine as is.”

  Miyuki nodded with a slight bow, before saying. “It’s no problem at all. I remember doing all these things for you when you were very small. Ah, it brings back memories.”

  “Let’s go out and meet the others,” Kotoha said. “I’m sure that they’ve been waiting all this time.”

  They made their way to the Main Hall of the manor, and Kotoha saw a white-haired male with wolf ears, pale skin, and silvery blue eyes while a blond-haired male with curious crimson eyes similar to Kotoha’s red ones stood like bookends by her mother’s side. The white-haired male, Yukio, didn’t seem to look comfortable in a suit. His ears twitched uncontrollably as tremors shook his body, as he handed out pamphlets to the guests that would come to the auspicious birthday banquet. The blond-haired male, Shigure, seemed more at ease in professional attire, and his two-piece suit hugged his slender form quite snugly on his slender body, long blond hair draping past his shoulders to complete the look of a charmer and rogue. When they saw Kotoha, they immediately left Haruka Himemiya’s side and then positioned themselves beside Kotoha.

  “Ojou-sama,” Shigure said. “Today is a day of great reverence. You look lovely in that orange yukata.”

  “Thank you,” Kotoha nodded.

  She stole a glance toward the white-haired male. His two wolf-like ears perched on the top of his head twitched, and she wondered why he seemed so flushed. “Do you have a fever, Yukio?”

  “What’re you talking about?” Yukio said. “I’m perfectly fine!”

  “He’s just admiring how beautiful you are, Ojou-sama,” Shigure said with a mischievous smirk to Yukio, to which Yukio’s cheeks reddened further and his two wolf ears stiffened.

  “Tch,” Yukio said. “I’m perfectly fine!”

  “Your ears are twitching,” Kotoha noted.

  “Never mind about my ears!” Yukio said, clearing his throat. “You look…uh…”

  “Ravishing?” Shigure suggested. “Stunning? Maybe a beautiful would suffice?”

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “Damn it, Shigure,” Yukio stuttered, snapping his teeth toward the Shinigami. “You wanna fight?”

  “Thank you,” Kotoha said before she fully addressed her mother. “Good morning, Mother. How are you doing?”

  “No need to be so formal around me,” Haruka said with a smile. She resembled Kotoha in many ways, with her long dark brown hair and red eyes. She wore a ball gown that was black and frilled out into three tears of laced edges, with pink ribbons adorning and festooning the sashed area and around the neck where her lovely throat and back was exposed. “You will be introduced to the other powerful clans of the Youkai and see which one will be suitable for marriage.”

  “Marriage?” Kotoha said, with a faint flush on her cheeks.

  She didn’t have time for marriage! She wanted to accomplish her own goals, such as inheriting her mother’s Flame Deity position and taking territories under control to lead the Night parade to show her wealth and status to her enemies.

  “Mother, I don’t know about this. I mean, I think that the other princes of the other families are such bores. I want to maintain a position of power without having to rely on age-old traditions that I have no interest in.”

  Haruka smiled a bit before she put her hands on her daughter’s shoulders. “You are sixteen, about to be Heir to my Flame Deity position. You need to mingle with the other clans and make friends to unite them together.”

  Kotoha puffed her cheek out. She had no interest in such things She was not a mere decoration to be hung off another man’s arm like some trophy wife! “I will attend the banquet, but I make no promises about making nice with any of the princes of the other Houses.”

  Shigure bowed towards Kotoha, taking her aside before whispering to her. “Ojou-sama, perhaps it is not to your liking, but this is an important political event.”

  Kotoha sulked.

  “I know. That doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

  “As much as I hate the thought of handing you off to another strange male, it’s unfortunate that this is what your mother and father wish for you.”

  “I want nothing to do with it,” Kotoha said with an injured sniff.

  Then, an idea brewed in her mind about what could happen at this event. She would attend all right, without actually being there. All it involved was having a body double to replace her.

  “Kotoha-chan?” Kasumi gesticulated with her hands wildly. “You want me to pose as you then?”

  Kotoha grinned. “That would be most welcome. I would rather that I have you replace me as my body double while I’m off gathering information about something…about one of our opponents.”

  “You mean Tenzen, right?” Kasumi said.

  Shigure adjusted his hair, running a hand through shimmering golden locks.

  “Precisely, we need to figure out his weak points and shut down his campaign before he gathers more followers to his side in his Night Parade,” Shigure said.

  “You’re more of the strategist and schemer, Shigure,” Kasumi said with a laugh. “What do you propose that we do?”

  “In order to gather information about our opponent, Kotoha will travel to his manor of residence and take pictures of the inside. To send a message.”

  The trio huddled closer in their conspiratorial whispering, enjoying the scheme that Shigure cooked up.

  “Go on,” the two girls chorused.

  Shigure’s eyes crinkled fondly toward Kotoha. “She will steal a priceless heirloom inside that holds the Tenzen family’s generation secrets of their techniques. They kept it a closely guarded secret. But I’m sure with a little finesse and fine cracking our beloved Princess will be able to master their technique and unleash it against them a thousandfold.”

  “He’s the guy that wanted to ask your hand in marriage a couple of times, hasn’t he?” Kasumi said thoughtfully. “Our Princess is very fetching if I do say so myself.”

  “Stop it, Kasumi,” Kotoha said, though she couldn’t help but invest in Kasumi’s playful demeanor. “Okay, so Kasumi is going to disguise as me at the political meeting while I’m infiltrating Tenzen’s house.”

  Shigure smiled. “As quick as ever, Kotoha. When you’re not busy running away from political meetings, I do find it commendable that you have a good head on your shoulders.”

  Kotoha flushed a bit. “Please, Shigure, don’t be such a flatterer. You’re a dreadful tease and menace to women.”

  Shigure bowed. “I aim to please. Using this body double scenario, I will instill fear into our opponents and they will desperately try to counterattack against this ploy.”

  Kotoha snapped her fingers. “Kasumi can mimic me perfectly thanks to her training in the secret arts of Nekomata ninjutsu.”

  “Hmhm,” Kasumi said. “You know, Kotoha-chan. It’s always fun playing dress up as you. Though the one thing that separates the two of us is a little hard to contain—and that is our breast sizes.”

  “Yes, that is a limiting superpower,” Kotoha said. “But luckily our chest sizes are about equally matched with one another. Though, unfortunately, you can’t disguise yourself as every person that you want to, Kasumi.”

  Kasumi winked. “All it takes is engineering a little illusory ninjutsu or something to change my bust size and tail and ears. That shouldn’t be a problem. Though of course people can always try to cop a feel or whatever and then they’ll find out.”

  Shigure coughed while Kotoha smirked at Shigure.

  “Were you thinking of trying to do that to Kasumi, Shigure?”

  “Never, Ojou-sama. My heart only belongs to one person in this personal harem that your mother has created, and that is with you. Please don’t think my heart would be led astray.”

  “Uh oh,” Kasumi said with a toothy smile, flashing ivory. “Every time they try to cop a feel I can’t help but break their arm, you know?”

  “Well, you’ll have Shigure around to watch over you,” Kotoha said with a smile before Shigure pouted a little.

  “Ojou-sama? You do not wish to procure my services for scouting the land of Tenzen’s manor?”

  “Shigure, it’s best that you stay with Kasumi,” Kotoha said while putting a finger to her lips. “I feel that would be best.”

  Shigure bowed.

  “As you wish, Ojou-sama.”

  Kotoha smiled.

  “Good. Anyway, I’ll be off. Kasumi, I want you to pose in my place in your ninjutsu disguise. Something is bothering me about the Tenzen faction of Youkai, and I want to investigate them. Could you do that?”

  Kasumi bowed. “Please return safely, Ojou-sama.”

  Kotoha smirked before she went off on her little escapade to explore Tenzen’s manor. Little did she know that tragedy would strike.

  II

  When Kotoha explored the manor, the massive gates and shrines gathered around the area loomed above in palatial grandeur. As a deity of sorts, Tenzen liked lavish places and several followers and acolytes following his faith. Kotoha wanted to touch the various artifacts like swords, gemstones, and priceless coins that he kept stored in his treasury, then thought better of it. She was here on a mission, and that mission was to discover what his plans were.

  She heard rumors Tenzen planned that opposed the Goddess of Pandemonium. Her mother. Haruka Himemiya would often have long yawn-inducing political talks with the other factions of Youkai who gathered for their meetings, though honestly, Kotoha would often run away from these political talks and didn’t pay attention to them. Because who could blame her? She was sixteen years old, though her mother would often remark that the Princess of Phantasms should be more aware of the goings on between the various factions of each Youkai and what each clan did.

  She evaded the sentries with ease. She ducked behind terraces, embraced the shadows and used her illusory magic to run throughout the manor undetected. She eventually wandered into a room in the manor where there was a beautiful treasure beyond imagining. Kotoha found herself lured to it. Since when did Tenzen have such a treasure?

  He harbored a lot of priceless relics within his massive treasury. Kotoha mentally noted down the treasures within his treasury for the time being, before she silently sneaked her way out. There didn’t seem to be anything particularly suspicious that she could find. She wanted to find something out of the ordinary, something that would pin Tenzen as a criminal, because she had her suspicions about him, but could never quite confirm this. No forbidden scrolls, no out-of-the-ordinary substances, and certainly no dead bodies. Kotoha thought she was in the middle of something important, but it seemed like everything was fine for now. Kotoha slipped out using her illusory magic before she began the trek on the way home.

  However, while she was in the manor, she heard someone approaching.

  Heart pounding in her throat, she slipped away, keeping in mind her escape routes, and found a moderate place to hide within. She cramped herself into a fancy closet and cursed her hiding place as she bundled in her long orange and black scarf around her neck and closed the cabinet door quietly.

  She heard murmurs drift throughout the room she was in, and Kotoha held in bated breath when she heard them speak.

  “This would be the perfect time for Tenzen-dono to gather his followers,” she heard someone say through the crack in the cabinet door. “That damnable Goddess of Pandemonium isn’t going to suspect a thing, is she?”

  “It’s not time to do so yet,” one of the servants said. “However, the Goddess of Pandemonium isn’t an easy target. Perhaps we should go after someone more vulnerable. She has a soft spot for her daughter.”

  “The little Princess of Phantasms, you say?” the servant said in consideration, and Kotoha’s eyes widened as she muffled a surprised squeak underneath her hands and muffled it underneath her scarf.”A fine young thing. She would fetch a pretty price.”

  Kotoha stood still, waiting with bated breath. Were they planning an attack on her village and the manor? She had to go back and warn someone of this! Though she couldn’t move from her hiding spot, as the servants lingered right by the cabinet and any movement in her cramped position would surely give her way. Any sound. Kotoha held her breath as the servants continued to speak again.

  “If Tenzen wishes to strike…the time should be now.”

  A servant’s voice lowered and Kotoha had to strain to catch the words whispered.

  “Someone is here,” they whispered. “A rat is among our midst.”

  Kotoha felt the cabinet door open and she found herself being manhandled to be brought before Tenzen.

  “Why, a hostage has come willingly into our midst,” the servant said with a crooked smile on his face. “Well, Princess? What do you say that we hold you hostage and your mother pays back for your life with a ransom, hm?”

  Kotoha spat in his face. The servant snarled and slapped her across the face, to which Kotoha’s face stung with humiliation. Yet she would not cry, she held her head proudly and glared at him for daring to hit the Princess of Phantasms.

  “You will regret this,” she said in a low tone.

  “I would like to see you try, little Princess,” the servant said with a nasty smile on his face which grew onto a full-on simper when Kotoha wavered. “Did you think that Tenzen-sama would not foresee this? Your mother is a soft fool. She should’ve gotten Tenzen when she had the chance to, and now this would ultimately prove to be her downfall.”

  “My mother is stronger than you think,” Kotoha said with a proud tilt of her head.

  “Ah, but when it comes to you, her daughter, that is where her weakness is evident. She will come to get you, once she has supplied a handsome amount of money for Tenzen of course.”

  Kotoha gritted her teeth. Her four servants would probably be about to intervene right now, shouldn’t they? But then Kotoha decided she must take matters into her own hands and she kicked the servant in the unmentionables, to which he let out a squawk of surprise. Kotoha then used her illusory magic to hide herself and deceive her opponent’s senses as she dodged punches and kicks and grasping arms that tried to restrain her.

  “I’ve heard enough. Wait till I report this news back to my mother. We’ll see how merciful she will be then when you’ve threatened her daughter.”

  Kotoha slipped through the manor and ran as though her life depended on it. She couldn’t stop now, especially not after what she’s seen or witnessed. She would go back to her mother and tell her about what she’d seen and witnessed at Tenzen’s manor—she could not let this go unpunished! Tenzen was a slimy, writhing little worm that would be crushed underneath the talons of her mother, and when her mother was through with him, he would be tried as a criminal for his misdemeanors.

  Kotoha’s heart leaped in her throat. She hoped she was not too late. The assassins that were pursuing her on her way to her mother’s territory were close by. She could sense them.

  It was either do or die here.

  But before Kotoha could reach the boundary between her mother’s country and Tenzen’s, something grabbed her long silken banner of hair and pulled her back.

  Kotoha cursed and whipped a kick in that person’s direction, causing the assassin to go flying.

  However, when Kotoha ran far away from the assassins and took the long roundabout way back towards her manor, a sight before her took her by surprise. The ceremony that her mother was opening in her honor was a bloodied mess. Several servants and her mother were fighting, and Kotoha came to her mother’s aid when her mother used her Phantasm powers to overwhelm whole hordes of enemies at once.

  “What happened here?” Kotoha cried out to her mother.

  “You must run, Kotoha,” her mother said, looking her daughter deep in the eyes. “This may be the day that I will die. But I want you to promise me…promise me that you will survive. Survive and lead the legacy of taking charge of the Night Parade and inspire awe in people’s hearts as the True Leader of the Phantasms, as the Goddess of Pandemonium!”

  “Mother, I can’t leave you!” Kotoha cried, though Shigure came forth and took her away while her mother continued fighting more hordes of monsters that came attacking her at the manor.

  “It is not safe, Ojou-sama!” Shigure said.

  “What about Mother?” Kotoha cried out before Shigure took a firm grip on her.

  “Our orders are to protect Ojou-sama. That is what the Queen has decreed, so you must survive at all costs to carry on Haruka Himemiya’s legacy!”