[googlefont=Yuji Boku]力; Power

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She heard the sound of bells and chimes in the distance. Then the low beat of drums, beaten in a chaotic and irregular rhythm. Then the pitter patter of hundreds of steps, all walking along in a joyless procession. Then the whine of many wheels, working in tandem to carry a heavy payload. Then the whisper, prayers and curses in equal measure.

Then, silence. All sounds are hushed. The smell of freshly cooked meat trickles through the maw of her cave. She can see a dozen silhouettes on the wall, cast in shadow by the light of the sun. Her stomach grumbles. Her mouth salivates. Still, she waits. The Strongest Being Under Heaven is not to be seen by the eyes of mere mortals, and the ogress is not to present herself to eyes that do not seek her. Such was the treaty she signed with the villagers many years ago, when she was younger and foolish and far more mortal. Despite the protests of her hunger, she forces herself to wait.

A briefest of ceremonies is held. She hears words spoken in a tongue she no longer remembers. Then, with utmost haste, she hears the crowd leaving the mountain as though their lives depended on it.

She waited a moment longer, just to be sure nobody was lingering, before she stepped out of the mouth of her cave and beheld her offerings: A forest of meat and a river of booze, populated by many trinkets and curios carved in her vainglorious image. Her mouth smiles wider than any mouth should. The Offering to the Ogre is especially abundant this week. It might even last until the sunset.

Truly, strength has no greater reward than "love".

[googlefont=Yuji Boku]永; Love

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Love. A strange word, isn't it? Always said the same way, and yet, it can mean so many things. She muses on the matter as she idly picks up a statuette carved in her own image. Agape, Storge, Phillia, Eros. Worship, motherhood, friendship, and romance. They all feel so different than they did before, don't they? As they were then, and as they are now. She doesn't even know if the two are the same.

But she remembers one thing.

Claws delicately pour strong sake into a ceramic cup until it overflows. Then, she retreats into the cave, past the slumbering Geodude and lurking Zubat. To the end of the natural cave and past it, into the tunnel she carved herself with her own hands. Through the inky dark, and into the deepest chamber, known only to her.

It is a quaint tomb. Not extravagant, but not spartan, either. A solemn place with a solemn purpose. Upon a slab of stone rests a skeleton, older than even her divinity. The man that she used to love. She places the cup next to a hand that hasn't moved for more than a hundred years, and forces her eyes shut. Drops of water fall from the ceiling and splash upon her face.

No matter how much it hurts her, she cannot defeat her human heart.

[googlefont=Yuji Boku]族; Family

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In this quiet moment of reflection, she stops to think of her children.

Not her "human" children, no. She can no longer remember their faces, let alone their names. She means her divine children, her sons and daughters born in the purity of destruction. Born to myriad forgotten fathers and nameless mothers, nurtured not in the swaddling cloth of their frail humanity, but raised up by the blood of their indomitable demonic lineage. She recalls them all with such crystal clarity that so often evades her these days: From the jagged edges of their fangs to the twisting points of their horns, the glow of their eyes and the hiss of their blood, the disaster that followed them into this world. Yes, she remembers it all so well...

She hasn't seen them all in a long time. They've all left her behind, leaving Oni Mountain to make their own way within the great wide world beyond. They all step out of her comfy little cave, and they never come back. She's all alone her in this lonely little land. Her only company are the villagers beneath her, the sun and moon above her, and the corpses in her wake.

It's unfortunate. But she supposes that's the fate of every mother bird, isn't it? The hatchlings will always fly the coop when they grow old enough to fly. No amount of power could ever change that.

[googlefont=Yuji Boku]支配; Conquest

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After a terribly long moment had passed, she raised her head, dried the tears from her eyes, and returned the way she had came. Out of the isolated tomb, through the yawning caverns, past her piles of spoils, and out the mouth of her den. Then, she moved further, down the winding path of Oni Mountain and down to the roughlands below.

How long had it been, since she had been this far? She couldn't say. The last time she had been this far from "home" had been decades ago, maybe even centuries. In all that time, the obedient humans continued to lavish her with food and drink, and she saw little need to venture beyond her cave. But now, something was different, something that she couldn't rightly describe. It was as though she was being driven forced by an invisible force, urged to keep on walking as though it was the most important thing in the world.

Faster, faster, and faster. The mountain became a blur of beige and grey. Then, the forest, a blur of greens and browns. Then, the village, a blur of a dozen colours in one. All the while, she just kept moving, an unstoppable force marching along a path known only to them. In this state, possessed by heavens-knew-what, she doubted that even an immovable object could slow her down.

She didn't know what pushed her forward, what demanded her to go forth and conquer the distant horizon. Yet, she did so anyway. After all, it didn't sound like so bad a dream, did it?