"Of course, take your time," Inari says, studying Ama curiously, clearly not believing her words.<br/><br/>"Of course I recognize her. It may have been millenia, but I can certainly remember the being who gave birth to the mortal that would eventually ascend and become Amaterasu. She doesn't recognize me, of course, because I am<em>not</em>the same body. Over the millenia, I changed, my power passing from body to body, as the previous one died or surrendered to the next. That, and she wouldn't know I had ascended; she disappeared, before either of her children, Amaterasu and Kyuubi, ascended to fill the hole her departure left." As she talks, she's running her hands over her arm, somewhat nervously; it's clear that this has shaken her, rather violently. "My memory of her life, before ascension, is the only life that isn't complete, which is why I didn't remember her, or her appearance, immediately. It's a long story, but her loss forced my people to flee to Faerie, and bond with its energies, changing. Once there, eventually, Kyuubi and I were revered as gods, for saving us, and, long after our deaths, ascended and became the beings we are now. More than four thousand years had passed, which is why I said I didn't recognize her. Draiss, she's been gone for more than forty thousand years... you should be very careful. As I said, back then, even mortals were powerful. Even without that, she's still stronger than I am. Likely stronger than you, though, without any more followers... I don't know." She takes a deep, shuddering breath, realizing she's rambling a bit. "I'm... more afraid, now,t han I was assaulting that fortress."