“She’s not my twin! If I had a twin I would’ve known a long time ago, but she’s not, but she’s THERE and she’s freaking me out! How did this happen?! Who did this?! Did you know doppelgangers are a sign of imminent DEATH?!”
____
N: “That’s really harsh…”
Aku bent closer for a better look at the clone. Indeed, she looked and smelled exactly the same as the original and nothing about her seemed out of place or threatening. His gaze lingered on her for a moment before turning to Azura.
“She doesn’t seem so bad,” he concluded. Of course, Aku was plenty used to seeing ‘doppelgangers’ of himself. “Perhaps she is from an alternate reality much like I have multiple selves scattered across the dimensions.”
“No!” The shock seemed to be subsiding, and Ashi was out of her haze. She ran to stand in front of her father – not in his line of fire, but just close enough to catch his attention.
“This isn’t right! You can’t harm innocent people who haven’t disobeyed you in any way! And I’m not going to hurt them! This isn’t how I want to do things!”
“WHAT?” Startled by Ashi’s sudden distress, the eyebeams faded as Aku looked down to see her shouting up at him. He hadn’t expected this kind of defiance, especially not from his own daughter, and he was momentarily beside himself in shock.
Then, he doubled down and scolded his wayward daughter.
“Right and wrong do not matter! You must FORCE them into submission or they will turn against you at the first opportunity!”
A pleading voice came from behind Ashi where a father cowered on the ground, his young daughter shielded beneath him from the heat of the flames, “Empress… please help us…”
This looks like a cute comic.
gonna be a bit slow until friday. sorry about that.
Reblog repost and bold all of the themes that apply to your muse’s aesthetic or mood as a character.
Bloodied knuckles | Tear stained cheeks | Rust | A busted lip | Claws | Fangs | A bloody nose | Chattering teeth | A dark space underneath the bed | Scratching noises on a wall | Creaking metal | Fog | Dancing under moonlight | Blood dripping lips | Heavy breathing in the dark | A feeling of unexplained dread | A figure in a dark corner | Dirty peeling wallpaper | A bloody handprint on the wall | Sobbing in the dark | Bite marks on the skin | Eerie whispers | A hood covering a stranger’s eyes | The growl of a hidden animal | The sound of a blade being sharpened | A deep, dark forest | Walking on the streets alone at night | A cobweb-filled, abandoned building | Eyes darting in paranoia | A heavy beating pulse | The feeling of being trapped | Struggling to get out a scream | Boards covering broken windows | A quiet graveyard | A gas station in the middle of nowhere | A road that never ends | Heavy fog rolling in | The scent of blood in the air | Eerie old photographs | Walking along traintracks at night | A chill going up the spine | Gathering crows | A dusty, dimly lit study | Mist over a deserted cobblestone street | Ghost towns | Shadows around a campfire | The sound of chanting | Church bells tolling | An orange harvest moon | A broken down carnival | A dirty stuffed animal abandoned | Wiping bloody hands on fabric | Nightmares | Waking up in a panic | A power outage | Heavy lightning storms | A secret trap door | The feeling of being watched | Fear from trauma | A Ouija board set out on a table | An eerie doll | A scream of anguish and pain | Withered plants | A room that’s been forgotten and gathered dust | Owl eyes in the dark | Curled, dead tree branches | A ritual altar | Flickering candles | A lantern held up in the dark | Fear of being followed | Creaking floorboards | Repressed, horrible memories | Clenched teeth | Soft, echoing piano keys | An old book covered in dust | Many pairs of glaring eyes | Stumbling in pitch black darkness | Being stranded in the middle of nowhere | Tarot cards on a table | A trail of blood
Ashi remained frozen at her father’s request. No…she couldn’t do this. She couldn’t hurt innocent people. “I…I can’t,” she told her father. “Dad, I – I don’t want to do this.” The woman gazed up at Aku with pleading eyes.
“Please don’t make me.”
Ah, so she had the ‘stage fright’ did she? It seemed his daughter needed to work on her confidence. After all, gaining respect from mortals was as much about fear as it was about confidence.
“No need to be shy,” he encouraged, arms spread as if inviting her to join him in terrorizing the townspeople. “I am sure if you give it a try, it will come as naturally to you as it does for Aku.”
Perhaps she just needed to see a bit more. Aku turned his sights upon the city once again, scanning for movement. Soon, he spotted a group of escapees fleeing toward the edge of the city. Grinning wickedly, the yokai raised a clawed finger to the sky and raised a wall of earth to bar their escape. Now with nowhere to run, the people threw themselves to the ground, shaking in fear as Aku’s eyes glowed with a hot light.
“Join me, Ashi,” he said, zeroing in on his targets below. “Let us show them together.” A blast of energy shot from his eyes, strafing the wall above the cowering mortals and setting it ablaze.
To be truthful, Aku had forgotten all about Father’s Day, having only been one for such a short time and never knowing a father of his own. But as Ashi presented him with the drawing—the very first she had made—Aku was struck with an overwhelming sense of fatherly pride.
“EXCELLENT. Yes, child, it pleases me greatly!” Of all the things she could have drawn like ladybugs and stars and fireflies, Ashi had chosen to depict her love for her father. Aku bent low and placed a kiss atop her head, ruffling her hair a bit. “Now then, let us find a place to display it for all to see.”
Ashi beamed up at Aku, happy he enjoyed her present. She was even more overjoyed when he bent over to kiss the top of her head. Her mother never showed this type of pride in her, and it would be out of the question to ever think of making her something like this. It felt so nice to have her work be appreciated for once – and over something so small! The girl decided she was going to draw Aku more pictures, and she was sure he would love them all.
The little hybrid happily bounded after her father. Peeking out from behind him, she observed the room, looking for the perfect spot. “What about right there?” she suggested, pointing to an empty space on the wall above her father’s bed.
“It looks like a perfect spot to remind Aku who his favorite daughter is,” the demon grinned. Of course, he called each of them his favorite in secret whenever they made him proud. He scooped Ashi up into his arm and summoned a box of thumbtacks from thin air.
Then he held her up to the spot where she had pointed to let her pin the drawing in place. There was plenty of empty space on the flame-like shapes that made up the walls of his lair, all of it waiting to be covered in his daughter’s drawings.
The Shogun of Sorrow 