A storm brewed over the sea. Waves racked jagged rocks as a menagerie of maniacal monsters gathered on them. One of them, a serpent with a woman’s head, a nure onna, spoke.
“My friends! We have gathered here today to discuss the overthrow of humanity!”
There was no response, just the crashing of waves and the thunder of lightning.
She shouted, “MY FRIENDS! WE HAVE GATHERED HERE TODAY TO DISCUSS THE OVERTHROW OF HUMANITY!”
“What?” a woman, dripping with water, replied.
The snake woman repeated it, louder this time.
Another yokai said, “I’m sorry, could you repeat that? I can’t hear you.”
“WHAT DID YOU SAY?” she shouted, having the same problem.
“I THINK THE STORM’S TOO LOUD!” a massive, dark, monk-like creature managed to shout over the weather. “WHY DID WE DECIDE TO MEET IN THIS STORM?”
“BECAUSE IT WAS DRAMATIC!” the snake woman shouted.
A watery woman replied, “What did you say?”
“FORGET THIS! WE’LL MEET AGAIN LATER!”
“What?”
The next day, the group of yokai met on the beach. Violin music floated through the air.
“There,” the snake woman said. “This is much better.”
“Yeah, we can actually hear you, Sadako,” one of them agreed.
“Now, we are here to discuss the overthrow of humanity!” she stated.
“Yes! We shall get our revenge on the humans!” the monk-like figure, an umi bozu, spoke. “But how? There are billions of humans and not many of us.”
Sadako smiled, “It’s simple, really. We attack humanity and gather more yokai as we do. We get more and more momentum until we outnumber them. Then we take over Japan! That way, we can avoid facing billions and instead only fight millions!”
“That’s still a lot,” a watery woman, an iso onna, pointed out.
She said, “Perhaps, but we have abilities they don’t. When we get a hold of some of the advanced human weapons, they won’t stand a chance!”
A kappa smiled, “Yeah! We’ll show those humans!”
“We’ll get their livers and eat them all!” another kappa spoke.
“And what of the onmyoji? They are still a threat to us,” the iso onna stated.
“They are a danger,” Sadako agreed. “However, have you heard of an invasive species?”
There was silence.
She explained, “When a new species comes to an area where they weren’t previously, they are unstoppable. Nothing there knows how to deal with them, and they are able to triumph. Onmyoji are trained for dealing with yokai, but not monsters outside of Japan!”
“Then why attack Japan at all?” the iso onna questioned. “Why not attack some place without yokai where they won’t know how to deal with us?”
Sadako said, “Because shut up and do what I say.”
Hatred flashed through her as she was questioned. This was her conquest, dammit, not theirs! Sadako had no intention of letting anyone steal her glory or jeopardize the invasion’s order.
“So, we should make an alliance with monsters outside of Japan?” the umi bozu asked.
“Yes,” Sadako answered. “And in fact, I’m ahead of the game. Introduce yourself.”
The violin music stopped. A man who had handsome inhuman features, long water-logged hair, green so dark it was almost black, and was clad in a leather jacket, leather pants, and a white button-up shirt stepped out from behind a rock. He strummed his violin again, and the female yokai turned to him with intrigue.
He smiled, “I am Alver, a nokken from Denmark. I lure humans to their death by drowning them in lakes.”
“Oh, you’ll fit right in with us ayakashi, handsome,” the iso onna stated.
Sadako glared at her but said nothing.
‘If anyone’s having that handsome man, it’s me,’ she thought.
Alver said, “It’s nice to meet you all. I too have a grudge against humans and wish to overthrow them.”
A kawahime asked, “Whatever could they have done to you?”
“My story is a sordid one,” Alver sighed. “Centuries ago, nay, over a millennia, I lived in Denmark. There, a woman caught my eye. Sadly, she was a cruel mistress and refused to come to me.”
“You poor thing,” Sadako tried to get his attention. “Any woman who would refuse you is no doubt cruel.”
“Indeed she was. She called upon a man from her village, who sought to kill me. I fled into the water, but he pursued.”
“Oh, and that must have been hilarious,” the iso onna smirked. “You no doubt triumphed over him. A human can never beat an ayakashi or anything like us underwater!”
Alver sighed, “If only that were so. He possessed strength beyond that of a human. At times, I suspected that he was really a vampire. It would have made my defeat less humiliating. I was dragged out of the water and put on display. They were to execute me before the whole village. I narrowly managed to escape certain death.”
“When we’re done with Japan, Denmark is next! We will avenge your defeat!” Sadako declared.
The kawahime said, “Yes! The humans will suffer for this!”
“Indeed they will,” Alver strummed his violin. “And I have allies too.”
Several husks of men left the water. These creatures were blue as death, reeking of decay and swollen to the size of an ox. Long claws hung from their fingers, once fingernails that mutated as undeath took them.
Sadako smiled. The humans wouldn’t stand a chance with these things by their side.
Erik Egilson stepped inside his house. He plopped some of his homework down on a table and groaned.
Lenora walked over to him, “Master Erik, how was school today?”
“As boring and annoying as ever,” he sighed.
“I bet you’re looking forward to Spring break!” she said.
Erik nodded, “Yes, I am. I can stay inside and play video games all day. There’s a new viking game out. I’m looking forward to playing it.”
“That sounds fun! You love those games so much.”
“Even the least accurate of them are nostalgic,” the head vampire stated.
“Well, I hope you have fun with it.” Lenora spoke, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to cleaning.”
He sighed, “Not this again. The house is spotless.”
“Yes, but you can never be too clean.”
“I suppose not, but you are a vampire, not a slave. Don’t embarrass me if someone comes in,” Erik ordered.
“Oh, don’t worry. They’d barely notice that I’m there.”
He wanted to bash his head against the wall.
“Master Erik,” Beauregard’s voice called out from a room. “You should see this.”
Erik went inside. Beauregard was sitting at a computer.
“What is it? Did the humans do something?” the head vampire wondered.
Beauregard replied, “No, it isn’t about them. Something weird’s going on by the sea. I think some yokai are up to something.”
“Yokai are always up to something. Let the onmyoji handle it. It’s their job,” Erik shrugged.
“I think there’s more than just yokai there. Take a look at this,” he pulled up an article and got off the chair.
Erik sat down and looked at the article. He focused as he read it and absorbed the details. Confusion overtook his face.
“Master Erik, is something wrong?” Beauregard asked.
He said, “What the fuck are draugr doing in Japan?”
Ved'ma Story 