Far before Nanami's time, Mizuki was a familiar to the Lady Yonomori. He served her lovingly and loyally. When he meets a young girl from an abusive home, he bets on his god's kindness and wins. He is allowed to care for the girl until she grows up...
Mizuki came out of the water alone, leaving his back-up submerged, as he took to the sky to search for Suzuka.
"You damn snake!"
He just barely ducked in time to avoid being hit with the hammer. It was too dark for this. Mizuki couldn't see a thing.
"Stone!" Suzuka cried over and over as she tried to strike Mizuki with the hammer.
Mizuki knocked her out of the sky with a sudden flood of water.
"Any time now would be great!" Mizuki yelled.
Then, simple as that, a clamshell trapped Suzuka.
"Not so hard," Ryuo called up.
Mizuki shook his head as he came down.
"It shouldn't be easy."
Suzuka burst out of the clamshell, covered in seawater and seething.
"Freeze!" Suzuka yelled, swinging the hammer at Ryuo. Ryuo jumped back and then tried to strike Suzuka with a dagger. Two sea slug flopped on Suzuka's back and tried to pin her down and Mizuki sent a wave of water over her to blur her vision as Ryuo reached for the hammer.
"Gust!" Suzuka yelled, moving the hammer just enough to send, the water, Mizuki, Ryuo, and the sea slugs flying back away from her.
Ryuo was visibly irritated. He threw the dagger at Suzuka and seemed suprised it even connected, stabbing her in the shoulder. Mizuki observed this and made a plan. Suzuka was powerful, but had poor reflexes. Probably due to the weight and size of her fancy clothing.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Mizuki sent another wave of water over her, effectively soaking and adding more weight to her clothing. Ryuo noticed this and his sea slugs pinned her down again.
"Ice!" Suzka yelled, swinging the hammer on the ground and freezing anything near her, including the sea slugs. She struggled to stand up so Mizuki sent another wave of water to knock her down.
"That's enough of this. Gust!"
Another strong blast of wind came through and dried her clothes. She stood up and glared at Mizuki, then lunged forward and swung the hammer again, "Despair!"
Mizuki dodged the hammer, internally relieved he wouldn't have to feel those painful emotions again. Instead, he focused on freeing Ume from the control of Suzuka's spell. He knew Ume didn't really hate him.
"Where did the girl go?" Ume asked, "Did you abandon her again?"
"She's safe," Mizuki said.
"Is she? Or did you convince yourself she'd be safe with someone dangerous. You've made that mistake before, and even though you've been bitten many times, you still won't shy away."
Ryuo raced forward and stabbed Suzuka with a second knife. He dug his knee into the back of one of Suzuka's knees, knocking her forward. Mizuki shook the paranoia out of his head and helped holding Suzuka down. He reached for the hammer when Suzuka yelled, "Sting!"
As soon as Mizuki touched the hammer, a stinging pain surged through his arm, causing him to let go from shock.
"Nightmare!" Suzuka yelled, striking at Mizuki, "Hurricane!"
Mizuki stumbled back as he saw his worst fears. Being alone, being hated by everyone he loved, all playing back before his eyes.
"Snake, snap out of it!" Ryuo yelled, just before a hurricane swept through the beach, gathering Mizuki and Ryuo and knocking them into the rocky area of the beach.
"What are you waiting for, an invitation!" Ryuo yelled.
An army of sea slugs attempted to pin down Suzuka. She just laughed as she swung the hammer and knocked them around. Ryuo groaned as he pushed himself off of the rocks. Fortunately, they had been worn down by sea water, so they were blunt. Maybe not so fortunate, since his entire body was ringing. He looked around for his war partner and found him hiding behind the rocks with his eyes closed.
"Oi! Why are you hiding, snake?" Ryuo yelled, grabbing Mizuki's arm, "Let's get back to it."
"Give me a moment," Mizuki whispered.
"We don't have a moment, let's go!"
"I can't. If I open my eyes or move, those memories will find me again."
Ryuo groaned and yanked Mizuki up, "I thought you said you were strong. How can you ever hope to be strong if you give up when the battle's rough. Hasn't Tomoe knocked any sense into you yet?"
Mizuki sat up and took a deep breath before sending another large surge of water crashing down on Suzuka. He held the water in place over her like a blanket pinning her down, his eyes clenched shut as he resisted the negative thoughts trying to slip into his mind.
"Now to get that damn hammer," Ryuo muttered, running forward to grab it before Suzuka could break free. As soon as he touched the hammer, the stinging sensation surged through his arm. It was not unlike a jellyfish sting, so he tried to power through it and pulled the hammer out of Suzuka's iron grip.
"Got it!" he yelled, jumping away from Suzuka.
"You think I'm through, you pests!" she screeched, "Weak yokai! I am still a god!"
Black storm clouds surrounded her.
"I thought she couldn't use her power without the hammer!" Ryuo yelled over the thunder.
"No! The hammer adds to her power. She is still a god!" Mizuki yelled back, "We have to take her power now!"
"Yield power!" Ryuo yelled, bringing down the hammer toward Suzuka. He wasn't close enough before Suzuka yelled, "Die!" Mizuki and Ryuo both desperately jumped out of the way of lightning strikes, but landed in the water, which was poor luck. Electricity surged through the water, electrocuting them both.
Mizuki nearly passed out and Ryuo tried to keep him awake.
"Now to get that god," Suzuka cackled before jumping into the water.
"No," Mizuki whispered, sending his snake down into the water. It zipped forward in the water and wrapped around Suzuka tightly. Ryuo brought Mizuki down under the water so he could see. Mizuki tightened the snake's grip on Suzuka.
"Try again," Mizuki hissed. Ryuo swam forward quickly and swung the hammer through the water, "Yield power!"
Suzuka tried to squirm out of the snake's grasp as some of her power was sucked away and became trapped in a bottle that appeared in Ryuo's hand. She let out a loud, painful to hear screech and the ocean began to fill with her black fog, spreading through the water like ink. Ryuo cried out in surprise and yelled, "Evict!"
Suzuka was shot out from the water.
"Clean!" he cried, swinging at the fog. It slowly started clearing out of the water. He turned back, but he couldn't see Mizuki.
