From a Little Spark may Burst a Flame

Sources: E.W. and F. Champney's The Romance of Old Japan and an illustration for Alighieri's Paradiso by Paul Dore

Dante, having acquired a sweet tooth back in Egypt, tore into the matcha balls that sat on a plate adorned with a red dragon beside a steaming tea pot. Across from him the salt water prince was practicing his hand at persuasion.

"Alighieri, my friend. You are welcome to stay as long as you would like. But if you want to know the secrets of my journey and the tales of this land, I would ask something of you."

"What is it that you desire, gracious Susano-o?"

Dante asked before washing the matcha down with a swig of tea that smelled faintly of flowers.

"Duel me."

Susano-o handed Dante a sheathed sword and brandished his intricately ornamented katana. Dante drew his blade, which weighed heavily and curved slightly like that of a crescent moon.

"Before we begin our spar, let me ask my first question, Susano-o. Where did you come across a sword like that?"

Susano-o parried Dante's downward strike, shifting the weight of his left foot while pivoting around to dodge the counter-strike Dante lodged against him. He leapt backwards and calmly reassessed his target.

"This old thing? I met a family who had befallen tragedy. For years, a serpent had preyed upon their daughters. Coming across them and hearing their pleas for help, I chose to kill the serpent. But it was no ordinary beast."

Steel twanged and sparked in the center of a candlelit dojo.

"Yamata-O-Orochi, the eight-forked serpent of Koshi, wrestled with me from all sides with his grotesque heads but I blocked each and every one of his advances. I saw my opening and struck, slicing the beast from head to tail. And in its tail I found this sword, stronger than any and rivaled by none, like it was blessed by the very heavens."

"Astounding, Susano-o. Tell me then: How did these lands come to be?"

Dante had begun to perspire at the tip of his brows, but fought all the harder nonetheless, focus honed by the power of the incense enshrouding the room in its intoxicating scent and hypnotic aura.

"That, my friend, is the tale of my parents. Before the beginning, there hid in the darkest gaps of nothingness a spatial eminence gurgling with activity. Over time, its energy became thunderous and as it shook, the gallant Sun and its companion, the Moon, emerged. As the chaotic blur of the void was illuminated, another powerful pair came to be. Izanagi and Izanami stood an arm's length apart from one another."

Dante braced his blade length-wise against his arm, forcing Susano-o to ease his offensive. Dante was sweating profusely. Susano-o continued:

"Basking in the presence of the Moon, the ultramarine lace adorning Izanami's garb gleamed hypnotically. The mighty Sun paled in comparison to the fire that arose in Izanagi's heart at the sight of her. Her passion burned just as brightly. Together they watched with hands intertwined the becoming of the world. The roar of magnificent seas nipped at their ears as their lips robbed one another of the ability to speak. They sat in silence on the isle of Onogoro as island after island rose from the waters to be admired. The couple gave the marvels names: Yamato, Tsukushi, Iyo, Tsushima, Ahaji, Shikoku, Oki, and Lado."

Susano-o sidestepped one of Dante's strikes and leveraged his sword against the small of Dante's neck. Grinning, he took a step back and they reset their stances, ready to fight once more.

"After countless nights spent enraptured with the natural beauty of their world, Izanagi and Izanami brought about a daughter and a son, the heavenly Amaterasu-omikami and the salt water prince Susano-no-wo-no-mikoto, or, as you know me, Susano-o. When Amaterasu ascended to the heavens to rule, I traveled to the Moon to do the same. Izanami and Izanagi retired from child rearing and began again to focus their mutual gaze on the wealth of their surroundings. Seasons passed, but their love never faded. After many seasons, they had gazed upon the contents of each of the islands and grew tired of their native isle. Their flowing hair shifted color from jet black to that of the sea-foam at the edge of the waves that played beneath their feet as they danced upon the beach sand. Finally, there came a stormy night that chilled Izanagi and Izanami's bones. As they huddled together, they smiled at each other peacefully. Izanagi placed a kiss upon Izanami's forehead. The next morning, where they had lain two sacred lotuses bloomed in a dewy field of lavender and irises."

A tear had formed in the corner of Susano-o's eye. Him and Dante sparred through the night, discussing at length the beautiful nature of the islands of Japan.

Author's Note: I really enjoyed the way I framed the first story, so I chose to stick with that narrative display. This time, Susano-o trains Dante in the art of swordplay while telling him two stories. The first is how he came to acquire his sword, Kushanagi. The second week of class, I read the story of The Eight-Forked Serpent of Koshi, and thought it was so cool how that whole story unfolded. Yamata-no-Orochi is such a neat creature, and it is extra cool for me because there's a game I played a while back called Nioh and the final main boss is literally Yamata-no-Orochi envisioned in the most frightening way possible. Next, Susano-o tells the story of his parents, Izanagi and Izanami. My favorite story I wrote this entire semester was Silence Becomes, which is actually what Susano-o is relaying to Dante. I believe the story deserved more and what better way to give it that than to nestle it into a tale of two epic figures, one enriching his knowledge of the ancient mythological history of Japan and the other one intrexicably embedded at the pulsing heart of it all.