[lb2]
A single Night can reveal all Inner Light
"Are you ready, Misaki?""Huh? Ready for what?", the kitsune asked with curiosity as she nibbled on a few pockey stick. The stern face of her uncle Yatsu, master swordsman of the Aikayume, seemed to twitch at her reply. He was clearly expecting her to be ready for something and highly aware of what was to come, but the genuine obliviousness of his sister's daughter denied him a rightful anger.
"For your ritual."
"Ritual..? What ritual?"
"... You are joking, right?"
"Heh, no? What are you talking about uncle? I don't have any chores today other than tending to the shrine in the lower district."
It didn't happen often, but Yatsu's face turned red. Furious red. Just for a moment. The air around him seemed to instantly heat up in response to his visible yet controlled anger before it cooled down as quickly as it came.
"You are to prepare for the passing of the blood tonight. You're next in line to carry the title of Priestess of the Aikayume."
"Huh? But mom's doing fine?"
"Your mother hasn't left her bed since three days. We're not sure what triggered it, but she has been too weak to wake much longer than half an hour to delegate duties."
"Mom didn't mention anything."
Misaki's voice trailed off. The passing of the blood? The ritual where the blood of the Priestess was passed on to the next in line? She wasn't ready for this. It would mean the end of her mother and her picking where she had left. That would mean she would be on her own. Her ears would droop, her face losing her smile.
"Maybe mom is just being lazy...?", she tried, in hopes that the whole conversation would be erased with it.
"You are fifteen, Misaki. This is how it has always been and how it will always be."
"But..."
"There is nothing to but. It must happen tonight before your mother and your heritage is lost. Your duties for today will be cancelled so you can prepare properly for the ritual."
"But.. I don't want to lose mom!"
Yatsu sighed. He had seen this attitude before. Right now, the girl before her reminded him of his sister Azusa. Reluctant, hiding and pouting, thinking about themselves because they had been spoiled rotten by their mothers. Always out to play, never taking the world serious because they somehow believed they'd be freed of the realities the world brought forward. Even now he believed that the lax attitude of his sister Akiko, similar to that of his own mother, was the wrong way to go about things. And was he wrong? What had become of Azusa, after all? She had been exiled, too weak too bear the burden of the Priestess. That was what.
"You remind me of Azusa."
Misaki was surprised to hear the name of her aunt being mentioned. She looked up, curious as she wondered how he got to that point.
"Both of you sulking in a corner because you only think about yourself. Spoiled rotten rather than strengthened to bear this heritage."
"I-I'm not sulking!"
"Oh? Then what are you doing?"
"I... I just..."
Yatsu left her lacking reply for what it was. The silence confirming the words he had just spoken.
"I expect you to be ready by this evening, Misaki. Is that understood?"
"Yes, uncle.", she'd whisper as she buried her face in her arms to hide the tears of a future she couldn't bear.
579
The pond behind the shrine bathed softly in the moonlight. The red torii gate that symbolised the passing from the mundane world into a holy place towered above the two kitsune. Foxfire flames danced on the edges of the pond, throwing a ghostly blue light over the whole area. Turning things as magical as it was eerie. Within the ghastly light stood a woman with brown hair bearing the clothes of the Priestess. Akiko Aikayume, sister to the original heir of the blood, Azusa Aikayume. The story behind it never once mentioned by the prideful kitsune of the clan. She looked pallid. Black marks of exhaustion under her eyes had gathered, the woman a shadow of the beautiful sleeper she used to be. At the entrance of the pool, a younger kitsune stepped inside. Bare feet would briefly kiss the cold water in trial before they carefully sunk deeper. Ripples formed. Seemingly illuminating as they undulated forward.