NAME. Hotaru Imube
AGE & BIRTH DATE. Unknown & 3000+
GENDER & PRONOUNS. Male & He/Him
SPECIES. Rift
OCCUPATION. Card Dealer
FACE CLAIM. Sen Mitsuji
( tw: death, violence, animal death, infant death, torture ) The night Hotaru was born the grounds of the Imube clan were blanketed in fireflies, the long dark night punctuated an arduous labor that brought the screaming infant son of the clan leader into the world. Named for the omen that marked Hotarusâ auspicious birth, from an early age he was placed upon a pedestal - the prodigal son of a warmonger that could do no wrong. Despite countless attempts his mother failed to deliver another child which only elevated his own position within the clan, the heir and future son of the proud family. Superstition surrounded Hotaru, as did the whispers of servants who watched as from a young boy he seemed to delight in suffering. Heâd pull the wings off of flies and watch them jump around uselessly, raise shards of broken glass over ant mounds and incinerate hordes of the creatures. These urges were only encouraged by his father, while his mother tried to temper Hotaruâs cruelty with games and strategy instead. She introduced him to Go and for hours at a time she would have him sit with her and they would play, if only for Hotaru to be rescued by his father who prioritized real-world military strategy over that which was found over a wooden board.
He learned to fight under their weaponsâ master, a man well-versed in a variety of martial arts who was responsible for training clanâs generals and eventual military heads. At sixteen Hotaru had already seen combat, a bloody state of affairs that suited him. On the battlefield Hotaru was merciless, cruel, and unrelenting. While he never produced an heir, though this never bothered him there were some that whispered of his potential infertility. Whispers Hotaru was quick to silence.
It was at the same time that Hotaruâs mother managed to successfully give birth to not one, but two children. Though it took her life in the process. Twins born under a full moon, one boy and one girl. They were the Imube clanâs newfound promise, should anything ever happen to Hotaru there was a backup child, another boy to take his place. And a girl who would undoubtedly come to bare many more children for the family. While his father was advanced in years, he suffered from a thirst for violence that was never quite sated. The loss of Hotaruâs mother took a toll of its own and for months the manâs health slowly deteriorated, bringing down the power of the clan with it. At night Hotaru would watch over the children, they had servants, but the boy liked to watch them as they sleep their frail frames as they took such tiny breaths it was almost as if they werenât even breathing at all.
The future stretched before him and Hotaru could see the path that lay before him clearly, these children were young and strong. They would grow as he had, and even after Hotaru inherited his fatherâs position as the head of the clan, these twins would potentially threaten his position and birthright. Though he despised them and in secret, conspired to dispatch them, Hotaru could never bring himself to do it. He cared little for his father, but he had genuinely loved his mother - and now these children were all that remained of them. His father however, blamed the children for his wifeâs death - their birth had come under a bad sign and he took this as an omen that they would someday bring the clan to ruin. Hotaru found his father by the river one night, the children already below the water and while he could do nothing to save them he gutted the man where he stood. Whispers followed that the cruel young lord was responsible for the childrenâs death, a lie that Hotaru did nothing to discourage. If his enemies believed him capable of such a cruel act, then no one would ever dare to oppose him. In private, however, he mourned his brother and sister; in a locket around his neck were twin locks of their hair, spirited from them before their pyre.
From that day forward the young lord was leader of the Imube clan, with no one to threaten or oppose him. Hotaru had an uncle, but shortly after inheriting his position Hotaru a story emerged about the man conspiring against him. For months Hotaru tortured the life from his body and let his screams echo across the grounds - this was a statement - a warning. And it was effective.
Only mortal, death came for Hotaru eventually. Though it was when he was very old. Cruelty made his enemies cower, but fear alone was not enough to keep those beneath him from conspiring against him forever. Sickness took his frail body, and soon a knife across the throat sent Hotaru Imube hurtling towards the Underworld where the Great Lord Enma awaited Hotaruâs damnable soul. It was here that Hotaruâs potential and ability was truly appreciated, the fires of hell coursed through his veins and Enma transformed the once handsome lord into a demon, a monster, an Oni. Hotaru had been so evil in life that he was a fitting torturer of Hell, he would take the worst of humanity and draw their punishments out for what would feel like eternity. Then, Hotaru would piece them together once more and begin again.
Centuries passed in this fashion before Enma sent Hotaru back to the mortal world, his form no longer recognizable to the man he had been before - he was a giant with blue skin, horns and a gruesome third eye that protruded from his forehead. A great, iron club was Hotaruâs weapon as he descended upon men and women who were deserving of an Oniâs wrath. He dragged them down and into the Underworld where he would then torture them, or toss them into the innumerable army of Hell to be devoured by the hordes of like-creatures. Thousands of years continued as the name Hotaru seemingly fell away, that was the name of the man who had been dragged into Enmaâs realm, only the Oni remained. As the world expanded so too did the Oniâs reach, more and more heâd appear in lands and regions that the yokai had no business in until one case brought him to a village that was soon to be engulfed in flames. It was here that the Oni hunted a creature that evaded Enmaâs clutches, and it was here that he bore witness to a phoenix as they burst into flames for the first time. The sight was an interesting one, Hotaru could admit as much, but not as interesting as the hopelessly lost soul of the man who crawled out of the flames. The Oni returned to the Underworld and put little thought towards the sight again until the sundering of the veil broke free some of the long imprisoned denizens of Hell. Enma himself tasked Hotaru, along with a few others, with the retrieval of the creatures that had broken free. Once more his mission would take him far from his homeland, all the way to Greece.
It was on Delos that Hotaru had tracked down a yokai who had wiggled free of its cage,  when he brought it down into the Underworld he was intercepted by three sisters along the way. They were hideous and fearsome, not at all unlike himself. Serpents coiled for their hair as great bat-like wings unfurled behind them. Their voices sent terror down his spine, even him, an Oni of Enmaâs realm knew of their power - these were the Erinyes. Furies and gatekeepers of Tartarus and Hotaru was trespassing in their domain. They told him he deserved punishment for his awful crimes, and for setting foot in Greece they could do just that. Or, he could help them as he was helping Enma and they would reward him instead. Hotaru would be given absolution, freedom, and the autonomy to move about the world with a human visage once more. For thousands of years he had been Enmaâs soldier, but Hotaru was never given a choice in the matter. A fiend though he wasâŚ. he sought an end as well. Finality. Peace. Hotaru agreed and the furieâs washed his sins clean - despite Enmaâs wishes he was sent forth to Corinth Bay.
+ protective, open-minded, amicable
- disloyal, cruel, aloof
PLAYED BY SHANE. EST. He/Him.
