Torturous Recuperation

Have you ever been presented with other individuals who you deem to be unworthy, badgering, or perhaps even insignificant, and yet somehow, they've always been a thorn in your side; a gnat in your mind plucking at your brain to get your attention as they make your life a living hell all the time? Would you consider them an enemy? A mere annoyance?

Or perhaps, something you don't want to admit, is that it's a rivalry. A fated battle between two individuals.

But what if it never ended?

What if it always kept going and there was never a way to bury the hatchet?

That's what occurred in the everyday land of Gensokyo in The Bamboo Forest of the Lost; a dark location where most individuals who dared to enter could never find their way out was hinted by the name of the forest itself. When you found yourself there, what would you do to get out? Scream in terror? Shout? Beg? All of these are normal solutions for the current conundrum you may find yourself in but, of course, there could be consequences for such impetuous decisions to solve it. Thankfully, it wasn't a consequential one. At least, if you were in The Bamboo Forest of the Lost. Should you find yourself astray and needing assistance to get yourself out, a lone figure dressed in red and white would come out of the darkest corners and guide you back to your destination. You know it would probably be best not to trust the stranger, but given the current situation you're in, do you really have any other choice? Finding a way out is like trying to find a needle in a haystack, and you'd be fortunate if you made it out of there only in a couple of hours or minutes.

When the lone figure cut you loose, you'd journey back to your destination and not have a care in the world for who they were. They were probably just some stranger who decided to help you in a time of need, so why was it so significant to find out their identity? If you were curious enough, however, to figure out and deduce who you just met, you'd find out that they go by the name Fujiwara No Mokou, a human who had consumed the Hourai Elixir a millennium ago who has a bitter hatred for her rival, Kaguya Houraisan. Their battles were always brutal, from various limbs being ripped, fingernails torn off, bones broken, flesh stripped, third degree burns, and miscellaneous horrific injuries that would make a desensitized individual feel sick.

The conflict between the two began around 1300 years ago, when Kaguya Houraisan embarrassed Mokou's father and her entire family by presenting him with impossible requests when he asked for her hand in marriage. Mokou grew to resent the moon princess, and searched for a long time for a way to spite her, but Kaguya ran away by returning to the moon before Mokou could take revenge. One day, Kaguya had left the Hourai Elixir for the Emperor of Japan, but the soldiers planned to fling the Hourai Elixir into the volcano known as Mount Fuji. What happened next was unclear, but for all Mokou cared, she managed to become immortal by consuming the Hourai Elixir and promising revenge against the moon princess.

And yet, after all of it, they'd be back to their pristine state with no injuries whatsoever. No scars, no wounds, it's always been healed eventually throughout time and will continue to be healed once again.

Quite considerably, you won't find yourself resolving these two from going at each other's necks because the best course of action you could take is just let it be. Eventually, they'll find a way to resolve themselves the neverending conflict between themselves. Although considering they've been going at each other for a millennium, I wouldn't scold you nor berate you for telling me it's never gonna end. After all, you can't help those who won't help themselves.

But they always say nothing lasts forever. Everything is temporarily, as much as we wish to not believe this foreign fact. There has to be some way to put an end to this, be it intervening, outside help, something - anything is better than this. Are you up to the task to solve this and potentially risk your life for the betterment of these two individuals to renounce their unneeded umbrage between each other? Are you genuinely on board with this preposterous idea you think will succeed?