The Beginning of the Moon

Daytime in Heian-kyo, within the Secret Realm of the Inari Shrine.

Inside a small building in the Secret Realm, four women sat facing each other around a low table. They were Miketsu, Eirin, and two Kaguyas. Plates of melon seeds and cups of hot tea were laid out on the table. Since their upcoming discussion involved Princess Kaguya’s origins, Miketsu had made a point of bringing her along.

"Mmm~ soaking in the hot spring behind this shrine was quite relaxing. Eirin, what do you think about digging a hot spring behind the Eternal Pavilion when we get back?" Wearing a yukata, Kaguya smiled as she dried her long, damp hair. Beside her, Eirin, whose long white hair was draped loosely over her shoulders, responded quite casually.

"I am sorry, Princess, but given the underground conditions of the Eternal Pavilion, I am afraid we cannot tap into a hot spring. We could, however, consider diverting natural water into a pool and heating it with a jutsu-shiki."

Watching these two immortals acting so relaxed, Miketsu’s lips twitched. She thought to herself, 'You two really don't treat yourselves like outsiders, do you?'

"The Princess Kaguya of legend seems quite easy to get along with..." Little Kaguya said with a gentle smile, watching the Kaguya and Eirin before her.

"Alright... a night has passed, and everyone has rested well. Now, you two can begin," Miketsu said to Eirin and Kaguya across the table, her tone turning serious.

"Ah... yes, we can begin. So, Uka-no-Mitama-no-Mikoto, what is it you wish to know first?" Eirin asked slowly, taking a sip of tea.

"Start with this 'Lunar Capital.' What exactly is the Lunar Capital? Where did it come from?" Miketsu asked. Eirin thought for a moment, then gave a light chuckle.

"The matter of the Lunar Capital... Heh, as the name suggests, the Lunar Capital is a city on the moon. Its residents are called lunarians, and it is ruled by the Council of Sages, which is composed of highly respected sages. Watatsuki no Yorihime, whom you defeated before, is a messenger of the moon among the lunarians and an important high-ranking official..." Eirin gazed out the window at the sky, her voice drifting as if she could see the moon itself.

"The current Lunar Capital... is an existence that transcends the earthly world. The lunarians there live without worry, ageless and immortal, possessing technology and jutsu-shiki far beyond those of the earthly world. The lunarians look down proudly upon the masses in the mortal world, regarding themselves as celestials and gods. The entire Lunar Capital can be called the 'Celestial Realm' within the living world."

"The 'Celestial Realm' within the living world... Why does such a place exist?" Miketsu asked, her brow furrowing slightly at Eirin's words.

"That... requires us to start from the origins of the Lunar Capital. Do not be fooled by its current brilliance; its history actually spans less than a thousand years... The origin of the Lunar Capital can be traced back to a high-ranking orthodox god. He is one of the Mihashira-no-uzunomiko, Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto..."

"Tsukuyomi..." Miketsu murmured. She suddenly remembered the deity named Kou she had seen not long ago at Kojin-mine, who seemed to merge with the moonlit night.

"Indeed... everything in the Lunar Capital began with Tsukuyomi, because he was unwilling to watch his people suffer the torments of the mortal world..." Eirin said, her voice trailing off into reminiscence.

...

Long, long ago, in the era when the heavenly gods officially parted from mortals and ascended to the Celestial Realm, there was one who remained deeply attached to the mortal world. That was the younger brother of Amaterasu Omikami, the one who governed the night and the lunar cycle: Tsukuyomi.

As the god of night, Tsukuyomi—who is rarely described in myths—did not have a very clear divine virtue governing his personality. However, he truly loved the humans in the mortal world who believed in him and regarded them as his children. In those days of primitive civilization, people suffered greatly from various natural and man-made disasters, as well as the pains of birth, aging, sickness, and death. Amidst plagues, wild beasts, floods, and droughts, people were tormented, and their average lifespan was extremely short. Human life was as worthless as wild grass, easily snuffed out.

In that harsh environment, the followers of the Moon God prayed to him, begging him to deliver them from their sea of suffering. Tsukuyomi was moved by this; he performed miracles more than once to help his people.

But although Tsukuyomi’s divine power was great, it could only solve temporary problems each time and could not root out the source of the suffering itself. Through constant attempts, Tsukuyomi finally understood one thing: it was this entire mortal world that brought suffering. As long as they remained in this world, sentient beings would suffer endless misery forever.

Once he realized this, a bold idea formed in Tsukuyomi’s mind. He wanted to move his people to a place where there was no suffering, where they could live forever without worry. At first, he wondered if he could simply transfer these mortals to the Celestial Realm where the gods lived, allowing mortals and gods to live together on the vast and fertile Takamagahara. However, he soon realized this idea was impossible. Setting aside the opposition of the other gods, ordinary mortals could not adapt to the environment of the Celestial Realm. Unless they were immortals who had attained enlightenment through cultivation, ordinary mortals would drop dead the moment they reached the Celestial Realm.

Although the plan to move mortals to the Celestial Realm was blocked, Tsukuyomi did not give up his dream of finding a worry-free paradise for his people. He continued his search until one day, while patrolling his domain, the desolate Plain of Night, he discovered a secret realm.

The Plain of Night is the lunar surface. Although myths describe this as Tsukuyomi’s territory, he did not like its desolation and rarely visited the wasteland. Thus, finding this secret realm during his patrol was a complete surprise. Compared to the rest of the barren lunar surface, this secret realm actually had temperatures and air suitable for habitation, and was even covered in strange vegetation. There, Tsukuyomi also found the ruins of a massive, broken city.

Regarding the strange ruins on the lunar surface, Tsukuyomi felt immense confusion, but a wonderful idea also took root in his mind. Since a worry-free paradise was hard to find, he would create one himself. He wanted to transform this lunar secret realm into a home where his people could live forever without worry. On this lunar surface far from the earth, he could exercise his divine power to his heart's content!

...

"So... Tsukuyomi moved the followers who believed in him to the secret realm on the moon, and that's how he created the Lunar Capital?" Miketsu asked, slightly surprised. Eirin replied calmly.

"Yes. However, back then we didn't call it the Lunar Capital; we called it the Plain of Night. That small place back then cannot be compared to the Lunar Capital of today." Eirin shrugged as she spoke.

"And what about you? Since Tsukuyomi led the establishment of the Lunar Capital, how did you, Omoikane-no-Mikoto, get involved in this?" Miketsu continued to ask. She was very curious about how Eirin had managed to lose all her divine power in the Lunar Capital.

"I was invited by Tsukuyomi. Because the secret realm for the lunarians wasn't entirely suitable for habitation at the time, Tsukuyomi needed my wisdom to modify the environment and lead the construction of the large-scale jutsu-shiki that serve as the foundation of the Lunar Capital. He used the opportunity to study the secret realms and ruins on the moon as bait to lure me into participating in the construction. Governed by the divine virtues of knowledge and wisdom, I naturally and quite logically fell for his trap, even though I knew exactly what he was planning."