Legends of Akasakura: The Summoner

Fukine no Reiko (薹根の玲子), that is who began this tragedy. Who is she, you ask? Allow me to tell you.

A long time ago...in a time long enough to be considered legend…

In a small and nameless village lived Reiko, alongside her husband. His name has been lost to history, but what little we know was that he was a lord of this land, and its guardian. Alongside Reiko, the two had a large and beautiful family together.
In public, the couple always seemed happy, and the portraits left behind of them portrayed them as the ideal couple. But as with many things, there was more beneath the surface.
The two had drifted apart over the years, going as far as sleeping in separate rooms at their lowest point. But despite this, Reiko still loved him. And that was something no one could doubt about her...

One night, while wandering the grounds of her home, Reiko heard her husband cry out. Panicked, she hastily made her way to her lord’s room to check up on him.
Upon reaching the door, the next sound she heard was that of a woman. But...the sound was not one she would expect to hear from one of her daughters, or one of the handmaiedens who worked for them. No, the sound was one that only she herself was allowed to cry out in his presence.

Her heart raced in her chest as she approached the door. She peeked through the crack in the door...and let out a scream.

Reiko ran out into the night, her mind’s eye repeating the terrible sight: her husband naked atop a beautiful young woman. The jewelry and beautiful makeup she wore were not something she won overnight. It was clear that her husband had been showering her with gifts for some time.
She wanted to deny what she saw, but deep in her heart she knew the truth...and she hated them both for it. Her heart burned with envy over the woman who took what was rightfully hers, and her soul raged with fury over the betrayal of her husband.
Reiko ran and she ran...until she collapsed from exhaustion atop the mound of Akasakura.
In her fevered dreams, she was visited by the form of a handsome man with three branches sticking out from his head. As He approached her, he asked,

[Tell me o’ child of the heavens, why dost thou weep?]
“My beloved husband...has betrayed me. I thought him loyal, but tonight I learned there was another.”
[And what does thou think of this betrayal?]
“That woman...I’m so jealous! Why does he look at her the way he used to look at me?! Why is he so affectionate to a whore like that when he has me?! Why?! Why?!”
[...If thou couldst take thine beloved back and banish this woman, would thou be willing to do such a thing?]
“If I could be sure he would never look at another woman again, I would do anything.”
[Then I would grant thy wish. I only ask but one favor…]

And so, the spirit told her of a wicked ritual in order to ensure the woman would be punished, and that her husband would be hers alone…

A week later, in the middle of the night, Reiko approached one of the sakura trees planted in Tenjin shrine wearing a white kimono. Atop her head she wore an iron ring adorned with three lit candles—symbolising the three branches upon the god’s head. Around her neck was a mirror which would reflect the jealousy in her heart, and tucked into her belt was a knife made of pure silver. In her left hand was an effigy made from branches of Akasakura held together by a strand of the woman’s hair and in her right was a hammer and a nine inch nail.
She placed the effigy upon the tree and began to hammer the nail into it. As she did, the ground began to quake. Many would have stopped upon feeling the shaking, but Reiko was so absorbed in her revenge that she did not notice it...at least, not until the ritual was complete.
As she drove the nail completely through, the ground beneath the village opened up, and from it, the spirits of the dear rose forth. The great tree itself creaked as, from its old roots, the ancient spirit rose forth and decreed that the life of the villagers were His to claim.
What Reiko believed was a ritual for vengeance was more a ritual of passage. By tapping into the vessel of a fellow divine spirit and amplifying it with her jealousy, Akasakura was able to manifest in our world.
Panic quickly swept through the village as the dead began to claim the lives of the innocent. Men, women, children, young, old...none were spared death.
When Reiko saw this, she cried out to Akasakura.

[What is it that troubles you, child?]

He snapped his finger and, in his hands, rested the corpse of the woman that had brought about her scorn.

[The vixen has perished. As for thine husband…]

Akasakura snapped His fingers again and summoned the body of Reiko’s husband. Though he was clearly breathing, his eyes were as hollow and lifeless as a corpse.

[He will never again betray your trust. Just as I promised thee.]
“This was not what I wished for!”
[True. I have done as you asked, but now I am simply collecting the payment that is owed to me.]

Horrified by what she had done, Reiko ran back towards the great tree and, using the nails given to her by the spirit, began to nail herself to the tree. With each swing of the hammer, the god’s form weakened. Though it was painful, Reiko knew she needed to atone for what she had unleashed.
Somehow, she lived long enough to fully bury the nails into her and the tree. When that final swing came down, the great spirit let out a roar as he was dragged back into his vessel and sealed away once more.

As dawn broke, Reiko smiled. In the end, she succeeded in stopping the god. As she felt her life slip away, she noticed that her body, too, began to vanish.

[This is my final curse to thee. None will remember thy name. None will remember what was done this day.]
“It doesn’t matter. So long as I managed to stop you...then I can vanish peacefully...”
[You merely delayed the inevitable. You were but the first, but there will be others. You will not be the last….]

Just before Reiko vanished, she saw a young girl standing before her. Though the girl was but a complete stranger to her, she smiled at Reiko and said,
<I promise that I’ll remember what you did. I promise to make sure your sacrifice wasn’t in vain.>
---
And sure enough, while the rest of the world forgot about Reiko and her family, that girl still remembered. And that girl...was my great-great-great grandmother, Reiko Kagami (火神 零子). She was the first shrine maiden charged with watching over Akasakura. And every firstborn daughter our family has had since has kept that watch...