章節 30: The Spirit Festival (Pt. I)
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|| CHAPTER 30 | The Spirit Festival (Pt. I) ||
"As one steps foot into another realm entirely–– the Realm of the Spirits and the Dead–– they will find themselves become the centre of hungry stares of the once betrayed souls and the peculiar gazes of the dead ones.
"Certainly, the freedom they sought long ago was obtained successfully.
"But would they allow ones like us to enter the comfort of their home?
"Would they allow ones like us to even stay alive?
"Little one, there are many things that remained hidden and unveiled in this world. This is the last chapter in the first arc of their adventure, why don't we see this through?
Perhaps, you'll get the answer to your inner questions–– ones that even I am unable to answer."
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They arrived at the lake not long after.
Ignoring the songs the ripples had to offer, the footsteps of their energetic bounces and the cacophony of chatters gushing through the air invaded their ears first.
The spirits were casually hanging out there as the group walked past them.
It had been a long while since the teens had stepped foot into the Realm of the Spirits. They didn't even remember the last time they visited the realm.
Various stalls rowed by the lake as far as the eyes could see.
Crimson lanterns decorated the dark, night sky, illuminating bluish-gold flames, despite the thin layer of red covering their light. They seemed brighter than the blinking stars above, piquing the attention of passers-by whose hues were basked in the same red.
Shizuka admitted, she liked the atmosphere the Spirit Festival had to offer.
Cheers of the onis ringing throughout the festivities with flaps of the tengus' graceful yet powerful wings above them, drowning all sounds away.
It wasn't even cold as most nights would throw at them.
It was quite... warm.
Woken up from her little reverie, Shizuka stopped her quiet crooning and cocked her head to the side. From afar, she spotted a very familiar spirit. Adorned by a pair of silvery wings and waist-length snowy white hair was standing there, he was seemingly waiting for someone–– or rather, some group.
Soft onyx hues locked onto the young Spirit Wielders' halting forms.
"... Over here," Hakufuu called out as loud as he could, attempting to claim victory over the chaos of noises. Emphasizing his call, the white tengu waved his hands up high.
The few that noticed Hakufuu's struggle to get through the see of crowds could only nod with beads of sweat rolling down their faces.
The big event hadn't even started and it was already packed with curious souls, trying to get their hands faster on the treats proffered by the ghost-resided stalls.
"Er, good evening, Hakufuu-dono," Seiya stiffly greeted the winged man hesitantly as he nodded as well.
"I see you're finally here," Hakufuu struggled to utter between breaths, panting slightly that puffs of cold air were visible. It seemed that the night wasn't as warm as they thought it was.
The tengu smiled. "I have some announcements for this year's Spirit Festival for you, children. The last decade has been hectic lately, according to the elders, so they decided to pass a message to you."
"What kind of message did they order you to tell us, Hakufuu-san?" Keita asked for all of them, though he asked it nonchalantly.
Heck, it was surprising enough that the Ichinosuke who always slept through everything had the energy to ask a question–– much less saying a whole sentence, a long one at that.
The day just got weirder and weirder, the teens concluded to themselves.
Even Shizuka had to look at Keita with a shocked look.
It's a miracle for him to stay awake.
"Master had given me a message that I have to convey to you." Hakufuu bowed respectfully to the young Spirit Wielders. Looking up, his soft smile tendered, melting the girls' hearts and the boys' forms.
"Otou-san did...?" the triplets guessed correctly in unison, curiously staring at the winged male. Hakufuu sweat-dropped at their intense stares.
Yuzuru's expression distorted for a bit, carrying a bad hunch on his back. "What did our Old Man tell you exactly?"
As the tengu cleared his throat, they calmed their intense stares into lighter ones.
"Well, Master and the other Head Clans stated that you, the representatives of the five Main Spirit Clans, should enjoy your time here as long as you want.
"Worry not about what the elders have to say about this year's festival, they told us."
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"Eh?"
"... Ehhh?"
"... EHHHHHH?!?!"
A cacophony of excited cheers erupted from the children. Even Yuzuru couldn't believe that his "cold-hearted" and stoic father said something like that. "You're not lying, are you? There's no way the Old Man said that."
"Believe it or not, Master actually spoke of those words, exactly the same." Hakufuu chuckled and covered the bottom part of his face with his sleeve. "I can attest to that, Yuzuru-sama."
Ignoring Kishi and Mizuki's gushing, Shizuka hummed in understanding. Though she couldn't fully comprehend the message behind the Head Clans' words, she decided to go with it.
It was a bit odd for ALL of the Head Clans to tell them to ignore the elders' commands. They were usually obedient to those older than them, especially the elders who had lived way longer than normal humans would.
However, there's not much time left before the seven of them execute the ritual.
They wouldn't have much fun in the time left, so might as well take the adults' words on this one.
"Why don't we just enjoy ourselves, then? Wouldn't hurt to have fun before the real thing starts," Shizuka encouraged and grinned, imagining all the things she could do at the festival.
However, before Kishi and Mizuki could run off towards the stalls, Seiya and Mizuto caught them in time as Hakufuu continued his message.
"Do note that you are to come back fifteen minutes before midnight. The ritual will start at midnight, twelve sharp. Make sure you come back in time for it," Hakufuu ordered patiently. Another side of him was amused by how easily entertained the humans get. It had always been interesting for him to accompany the younger ones.
"Heck, yes!! Haunted food stalls, here I come!!" Kishi celebrated with a booming voice, gaining the attention of other spirits.
"I wonder if we could get possessed if we eat the food of this realm," Shizuka wondered aloud, a random thought passing by her head.
The others were sure that the power of his vocal chord beat the crowded state the festival was in.
"Where should we go first? Ooh, how about that stall? Shizu-chan, let's go over there!!" Mizuki wondered out loud, earning a vigorous nod from the platinum-blonde-haired girl beside her as they scanned the area for snacks.
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The scattered group of young Spirit Wielders covered the festival ground in mere minutes.
Even the fastest of youkais wouldn't be able to catch up with their energy.
Yuzuru and Kishi sparred together with possessed steel swords, earning many audiences from passing spirits. Seiya and Mizuto went through various masks stalls and picked unique ones for the group.
Keita, Mizuki, and Shizuka tried several snacks and meals from the Spirit Realm. The three had to admit though, if it weren't for the... odd potion Mitsuru gave them, they wouldn't have been able to taste anything they ate.
Excitingly, the group bought along some peculiar new delicacies they had never seen before for the others as they gathered on a cliff, having a nighttime picnic there.
"WHOAAAAAAAAA!!!!" Yuzuru and Kishi sparkled at the snacks the trio brought.
Shizuka grinned brighter than the sun and spoke, "There's more than enough for everyone. Dig in!"
"Mm~ It's delicious," Seiya hummed in content as the honey-blonde-haired girl stuffed her mouth with various foods.
"Mizuki, slow down. You're going to cho––"
As soon as Mizuto was about to warn the girl, she choked and coughed, pounding her chest in hope of stopping her coughs. "Here. Don't eat too quickly, the food's not going anywhere."
Mizuto gave her a turquoise-tinted drink as she chugged it down.
"Ah~!! That's a lot better! Thanks, Mizuto!!" Mizuki grinned giddily at the Ichijou in gratitude as she put the empty bottle down.
Shizuka's pretty convinced that she saw steam erupting from the top of her brother's head, although she wasn't sure, due to the lack of light.
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"Oya~?"
"Oya oya~?"
Yuzuru and Shizuka, both raised a knowing eyebrow at their older brother's reaction to the honey-blonde girl's giddy grin.
Pink tinted his cheeks slightly as he directed his look away from the others, especially Mizuki and his two siblings.
"Ohohohoho~" Kishi teased as well and Seiya just chuckled at them. Keita fell asleep while they were bantering back and forth.
"Is this the start of a new LOVE STORY???????" Yuzuru and Kishi teased in a singing tone–– scratch that, they're singing it.
"Hmm?? What are you guys talking about???" Mizuki tilted her head in confusion.
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Kishi and Yuzuru stared at her agape, while Seiya sweat-dropped and Shizuka shook the poor girl back and forth.
"WHATTTTTTTTT??!!!" Kishi, Yuzuru, and Shizuka yelled into the night, probably already bursting the poor girl's eardrums.
"HOW COULD YOU NOT REALIZE IT??!!"
"You've got to be kidding me..."
"She's as dense as a rock."
"WhAt ArE YoOuUuU TaLkInG ABoUtTTtTT..." Mizuki stammered out, dizzy to see her whole world swirling in her vision.
Seiya held Shizuka back as she tried to free herself, wanting to slap some awareness into her best friend. The female questioned even herself as to how Mizuki became her best friend. Though she wasn't one to say that.
Shizuka, herself, wasn't very sensitive in the love field, so she really couldn't say anything else.
"HOW CAN YOU NOT––"
"Okay, okay. Calm down, all of you." Mizuto sweat-dropped at the bundles of energy in front of him, still trying to get their hands on Mizuki.
"Let's check out the other stalls, shall we? We've run out of snacks," Mizuto cut them off while wearing a gentle smile. They could already feel a different, hidden meaning behind that smile as they shivered and backed up.
Seemed like the angel wasn't much of an angel, after all.
"Oh, yeah! Now that you mention it, ooh!!! I want some of those candies from before. Keita, Keita!! Wake up, let's go!!!" Mizuki walked off with a sleepy Keita as the others were left alone with a smiling demon in disguise.
"Soooooo, are you gonna confess any time soon, Mizu-nii?" Yuzuru toughened himself up when he dared to ask that question.
Shizuka nearly shrieked when Kishi shoved her behind him, both shaking their heads fiercely as Seiya calmed them down. But they didn't expect the blue-eyed boy to answer him.
"Hmm? I have no idea what you're talking about, Yuzu," was all Mizuto replied him with, coupled with a closed-eye smile.
'Oh, he is dead!! He is deaddddd!!! DEAD, I tell you!!!' Kishi telepathically exclaimed to Seiya and Shizuka, earning nods of agreement from them.
"Huh? But, I thought you liked––" the gold-eyed male's mouth was covered by Kishi and they ran following Mizuki and Keita. The three followed behind, with Shizuka hiding behind Seiya's tall figure.
'We definitely need to bring them both together, even though it's probably gonna be impossible,' the group thought to themselves dramatically, aside from the little airhead and the smiling 'demon.'
Even from afar, they could still see Mizuto's sickeningly sweet smile, eyes glued on their escaping figures from behind.
"Remind me not to anger Mizu-nii, ever again," Shizuka whispered to Yuzuru and shivered, trying to get rid of the goosebumps that lingered.
"Gotcha."
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Chattering and bustles of cheers filled the night as the festival went by smoothly. The event that lasted a few moments ago bustled more with spirits visiting from all over the realm.
The snow spirits that had never gone out of their territories stepped foot into the area just to spectate over the ritual that was about to start.
Those who lived below or those who usually stayed up in the skies even went.
Shizuka would be lying if she said she wasn't excited to see various kinds of youkais gathering in one place. She guessed being one of the representatives of the Spirit Clans wasn't as bad as she thought.
Sure, she visits the Spirit Festival every year with the rest of the clans.
However, she had never felt the surge of excitement rushing through her veins like this before. Something that made her want to run around and scream in ecstasy.
Looking up, she saw a giant sphere with twelve famous constellations on it and two-hour hands, made out of gold, was in the middle of it.
The sphere flew above the festival, making a "ding-dong" sound when the hour hand stroke an "n" with a little twist on the end, symbolizing the famous spirit named Capricorn and indicating midnight.
Every spirit gathered around the big lake that any spirit could see even from afar. One could even see familiar faces among the crowds of spirits.
A certain red-haired demon hid in the trees of the forest, while was also able to see the giant body of water.
Murmurs and voices of various individuals stopped as soon as they heard an unfamiliar voice rang loudly in their heads:
"Let the ritual begin!!!"
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Seven individuals appeared above the middle surface of the big lake.
Seven that would be chosen amongst the members of the five main Spirit Clans.
Seven that would strengthen the barriers of the Realm of the Spirits–– Kakuriyo, the mysterious world that was made thousands, and thousands of years ago.
So many moons ago, where the Sun God gave them liberty, gave them a home.
The seven representatives of all five clans all had pure, white hair and crimson-red eyes. Glass wreaths on their heads and white layered clothes. With feet bared naked and red markings painting their foreheads, they looked completely different.
Those who knew them could recognize them immediately.
With Ichijou Mizuto was floating in the middle, followed by Yuzuru, Mizuki, and Keita to his left. Shizuka, Seiya, and Kishi stood by his right.
Items with no other were held within their grasps.
The seven figures separated into different directions, dancing and turning elegantly as they swayed and twirled.
Water ripples sang along, following the flowing of their long white garments above it.
They lift their arms, turning and flicking their wrists with a steady rhythm. Bringing their right arms down with the other still being lifted, the seven Spirit Wielders soon faced the centre of the lake.
It was darker than all of the other sides of the lake.
Rivalling the darkest of black, there was no source of light near them. No lanterns above them, no candles to light their way, nor was the reflection of the stars seen.
Just, nothing.
Ichijou Mizuto began to take long strides towards the middle, making each step of his feet graceful as he opened his hands, showing a giant sphere of water with a white flower that faded into yellow.
A rare bloom that only opened its petals once a year, in a certain place, a certain spot.
Somewhere where none would be able to reach.
He threw the sphere gently into the air as it burst into millions of droplets, causing a small rain to occur. The bursts of droplets fell into the lake, creating ripples everywhere. The flower stayed a whole as it shone brightly, competing with the moonlight.
It morphed into a bright star, flying into the night sky and staying there as it is.
Brighter than any lantern in the festival, brighter than the stars above.
The body of light outshined each and every light source in the area.
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The world was once just an ocean. Just a dark, blue ocean. With no sands beneath, no stones to path one's ways, no greens to feed a life, not even a single breath seen.
No life, no death. There was nothing there. Just a body of water, craving and longing for someone to hold it close in an encompassed time-lapse that would never end.
The ocean seemed endless as far as the eye could see. Its deep water was darker the more you dive into it. The abyssal reef was deeper than the eyes could see, with no footing and no knowledge of what may hide beneath the darkness that veiled the hues of one's vision.
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"I, Ichijou Mizuto, will hereby offer you, my protection. I will defend those who wronged my people, my loved ones, and my family. I swear on my life to punish those who broke the Law and betray us."
He cut his left wrist as blood poured into the lake. Crimson dyed the water red, brimming with the smell of iron and rust invading their smell.
The flesh that was once cut open by the steel of silver, healed completely as Mizuto walked back to his position.
The spirits erupted into cheers for the brunet.
Only the first step had been completed and the youkais were already bursting loudly, celebrating the night with cups of alcohol in their hands and the company of raining cherry blossoms with them.
Ichisaki Kishi walked up and threw up a small void with a galaxy inside it. Smaller dots of stars and orbiting planets surrounding a smaller sun was seen.
It burst, just like the sphere of liquid from before. Thousands of stars with various colours, shapes, and sizes decorated the night sky in the Spirit Realm.
They circled the brighter star from before, twinkling and blinking down upon the happy cheers of the youkais, celebrating their who knows how many millennials of freedom.
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There was darkness everywhere you see. Only the darkness that reflected the night sky and the clear blue colour that held the same emptiness as the vast cloudless sky.
Only the stars and the night sky above accompanied the lonely blue ocean.
It waved at the sky, hoping to get a reply. But all it got was just the twinkling of the stars, making a different melody every time it shone.
It sent waves again, greeting the sky every night and every day. Making use of every chance it got, the ocean waved to no end.
It befriended the winds, but never the sky.
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"I, Ichisaki Kishi, will hereby offer you, my protection. I will defend those who wronged my people, my loved ones, and my family. I swear on my life to punish those who broke the Law and betray us."
The Ichisaki male cut his left wrist as blood flowed down. His wrist healed completely and the spirits erupted into cheers for the boy as well. He returned to his position, just like Mizuto, uttering nothing after the chant he spoke.
Seiya was now in the middle, holding a frozen four-pointed star. He let the frozen star float up into the sky as it grew bigger, shining brightly beside Mizuto's.
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The ocean felt lonely as it had no one to talk to aside from the night sky and the stars. The winds weren't there to accompany it at night, after all.
When the sun bid goodbye, the night felt colder than before. Half of it was frozen solid as it went into a deep slumber. A bright star shone upon it, warming its cold heart.
However, that warmth wasn't enough to melt away the chilliness that began to build on the water surface.
Slowly, little by little, frost began to form.
In mere minutes, half of the ocean was frozen solid.
It couldn't blame the sun, nor could it blame the sky. The moon wasn't at fault as well. All of it fell to the ocean instead, seeing how none was responsible for the act.
It was all the ocean, and the ocean only.
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"I, Ichinose Seiya, will hereby offer you, my protection. I will defend those who wronged my people, my loved ones, and my family. I swear on my life to punish those who broke the Law and betray us."
He did the same thing as the previous two and went back to his spot.
Next up was Ichimori Mizuki. She brought a small, thin sapling with emerald-like leaves. With a trunk thinner than a finger, she couldn't help but be careful as she held it in her hands, scared that she might break it anytime soon.
Mizuki placed it below her as she backed up, allowing the tree to grow into a big one in the middle of the lake.
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The ocean went on and on without any warmth to its body. The sun's rays weren't enough to melt the ice, the stars' shine wasn't enough to even make a hole for it to go through.
It longed for warmth.
A small seed soon found itself stranded in the middle of the ocean. It swam and swam, finally reaching a frozen land. It wasn't an ideal spot for it to grow big, but it was more than enough.
With its small body, the seed was satisfied to even find something to land on other than water.
It made the icy land to be its new home as it grew up into a tall tree.
The land around it flourished with all kinds of plants and flowers grew there. It became green and no longer blue. The ocean's water circulated warmer as it found a new friend, lots of them. Animals and creatures of all kinds began living there.
They began appearing out of nowhere, feeding off of the nutrition provided by the tree and drinking from the ocean that split off into rivers, surviving.
Though its water changed, the ocean was happy.
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"I, Ichimori Mizuki, will hereby offer you, my protection. I will defend those who wronged my people, my loved ones, and my family. I swear on my life to punish those who broke the Law and betray us."
She said her vow in a calm and serious voice, contrasting with her usually cheerful personality.
Walking back after doing what the others did, white flowers bloomed from the tree and blue flaming fireflies flew around it, making the festival prettier than before.
They were mesmerized.
They were captivated.
For more than thousands of years, the Spirit Festival had never gone quiet before.
The once hectic event turned silent in mere seconds after the ritual began. It was just that beautiful for them to see, for them to remember.
The legend was retold, a fairy tale passed on from generation to generation.
And yet, none of those was surreal.
They all happened. Once, in the past.
|| CHAPTER 30 | The Spirit Festival (Pt. I) - To be continued... ||
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創作者的想法 
Xierryne
Xierryne ––
|| The Spirit Festival (Pt. I) ||
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As one steps foot into another realm entirely–– the Realm of the Spirits and the Dead–– they will find themselves become the centre of hungry stares of the once betrayed souls and the peculiar gazes of the dead ones.
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Certainly, the freedom they sought long ago was obtained successfully.
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But would they allow ones like us to enter the comfort of their home?
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Would they allow ones like us to even stay alive?
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Little one, there are many things that remained hidden and unveiled in this world. This is the last chapter in the first arc of their adventure, why don't we see this through?
Perhaps, you'll get the answer to your inner questions–– ones that even I am unable to answer.
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-- 收到的禮物 
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票