Slowly advancing along the cold polished stone steps, which do not even seem to absorb a hint of the heat coming from midday, a beautiful woman with long black hair and dressed as a priestess raises her gaze toward the end of the staircase.
Up there, atop a small hill that could never dream of being called a mountain, an extensive complex with several large and small shrines stretches out, although one of the things that stands out the most is the large red torii gate.
The latter is located right where the stairs end, marking a separation between both sides of the "material" and "spiritual" world, as well as serving as the central node of a powerful spiritual barrier, a situation that explains why it is now completely cracked.
"Who would have thought that they even have knowledge of that little 'secret' about the gate? Well, it seems that the situation of the previous temples was not a mere coincidence"
Taking the time to rummage through her thoughts despite the columns of smoke rising ahead, it seems that the action is still fresh in the shrine, the priestess begins to reconstruct the steps that brought her here.
But no matter how much she thought about it, there really was no pattern or anything similar, it was all a complete coincidence that ended with her being here, no matter how much her paranoid mind says otherwise.
Heber, it all happened like this; she was simply looking for some pilgrimage temple along the main road to rest, but before she could do so she encountered a group of villagers asking for help, the same ones who pointed her in this direction… Yes, something very common in these times.
"Strange, would I really have to be here and doing this? No, in the end I am still-"
"Senior priestess!"
"Eh, what?"
Even though she herself doubted what she has in front of her after opening her cold brown eyes, a young woman throwing herself headfirst into her arms, the mask of chronic indifference that Kikyo always wears momentarily breaks.
Luckily for her, though not so much for that stranger, her bodily reflexes automatically take control and guide her out of the way, causing the unknown young woman to hit her head against the stone steps.
Although strangely the young woman does not show herself to be hurt or anything similar, but quickly turns her body and again jumps like a frog toward one of Kikyo's legs, creating such an absurd situation that even the priestess fails to react.
"What do you think you are doing?"
"My sister is still up there. Please, please, help me save her senior priestess!"
Holding Kikyo's right leg tightly so as not to be pushed away or ignored, the young woman raises her head full of black hair and tries to fix her watery brown eyes on the one in front of her, something a little difficult due to the thick black bangs she has.
But she succeeds, and in a completely unexpected way, those teary eyes activate the older sister instincts that remain inside Kikyo. Or perhaps she just wants to get her off her after noticing the snot hanging from the young woman? No, the interesting thing is that she pats her and even smiles at her.
"Tell me little one, what is your name?"
"I, I… I am Botan! I was, well, actually I am a priestess apprentice at Kindan Shrine"
"Kindan Shrine… Isn't that where that Forbidden Treasure Tower is? I remember that priest keeping a powerful oni sealed down there"
"Ah, yes, you know the shrine!? No, that isn't important, please help me save my sister Momiji!"
Holding back the urge to rub her face against the clothes of the powerful priestess in front of her, mainly due to the powerful spiritual power the woman releases simply by standing there, Botan gets up from the ground and smooths out her clothing.
Which by the way is not the classic shrine priestess outfit, but rather a white hakui together with a blue sode-kukuri tied at the cuffs. But also demonstrating her youth, that is, a lady's sense of fashion, she wears a sleeveless ice-blue yukata over it with long skirt panels, a dark blue sash tied around her waist, as well as a white hakama sashinuki and black ankle boots.
"... Extremely cumbersome and useless for a real battle"
"Eh, is something wrong, senior priestess?"
"Nothing important, better let's go save your sister at once"
Looking away from the extravagant clothing of the young apprentice, she still prefers her characteristic and completely functional style, Kikyo lets out an imperceptible sigh before advancing up the last steps.
The scene taking place up there was extremely strange and chaotic, as the cat yokai were fighting against one another in a battle without quarters, all despite obviously being on the same side.
Of course, being who she is, besides with the help of her young companion, Kikyo easily notices that at least one third of those cat yokai are not real, but shikigamis that steal appearances.
So how did everything end up so chaotic? Simple, So-and-so distrusted Such-and-such and Such-and-such in turn distrusted So-and-so-else, creating an entire cycle of distrust that led to the disaster that is here above.
"Not bad, they are… about 15 shikigamis acting autonomously? Of course they have some imperfections, but that is understandable for an apprentice"
"Um, um, sister Momiji was always good at using shikigamis. Mainly when channeling something existing through hair or blood, making the yokai fight against themselves!"
"And you can-. Tsk, get out of the way, nuisance"
Striking directly at the heart of a cat yokai that had crossed gazes with her, obviously with an arrow fired from her longbow, Kikyo shows herself slightly interested in Botan's abilities.
Obviously not because she wanted to use them for herself, since at her current "level" there is nothing she really does not know about this craft, except creating talismans… Damn each and every one of them!.
"I specialize in sacred sutras and talismans, although since I had never seen or known these yokai, I was not very useful during the fight"
"Talismans have always been too rigid during field battles, and although sacred sutras cover a greater number of yokai, they will never be anything more than secondary tricks"
"I know, senior priestess! That's why I trained with the naginata to defend myself from my enemies, but it is difficult for a human to defeat a yokai"
Losing all the momentum she had managed to gather beforehand, mainly thanks to talking about her sister, Botan lowers her head and lets out a hopeless sigh.
"Yes, it is, but you should never confront a yokai with brute force, instead you must always follow a simple rule during combat"
"And what is that?"
"After a blow, there must always be a death. Extending the fight, losing the surprise and turning the battle into one of attrition is inconceivable. Humans will always be weaker than yokai"
Loading a new arrow into her red longbow, Kikyo demonstratively applies a little spiritual energy to the metal tip, granting it a dazzling blinding pink glow.
The mere existence of that sacred glow seems to melt the psychological coldness that had settled over the terrain, gaining the unwanted attention of all the yokai that had previously remained gathered in front of the main shrine's doors.
"That's where my sister is!"
"I know, I can feel her waning spiritual power inside those walls"
Releasing the bowstring while pronouncing those words, Kikyo calmly begins to walk forward without even waiting for the arrow to hit, since the result was written from the beginning.
And it certainly was. The arrow did not strike the bodies of any of the cat yokai, but instead embedded itself in the ground near all of them, releasing a blinding pink glow that purifies them all in a single blow.
"She is… She is… She is incredible"
"Are you going to come see your sister or not?"
"I'm coming!"
Running with shining eyes behind the black trail created by Kikyo's long hair, the young apprentice passes her figure and positions herself in front of the hardened oak door.
This was not simply an ordinary oak door, but rather Botan had placed multiple protective talismans on its surface before leaving, hoping to gain enough time to seek help and save her sister.
"Three, two, one. Dispersion! Hahaha, now all we have to-. Wait I am"
"Asuka"
"Yes teacher Kikyo"
Following her teacher's orders, the little girl who has been on Kikyo's shoulder for some time raises her hand, causing multiple roots to grow from the ground and easily stopping the young woman who tried to attack Botan when the door opened.
The attacker who was stopped surprisingly does not struggle or anything similar, rather she blinks several times to try to understand the situation, becoming almost completely a clone of Botan except with different clothes and some different features.
She, the priestess apprentice trapped by Asuka's roots, wears the same traditional white hakui as Botan but with red sode-kukuri tied at the cuffs. Although that is not the only difference, since she wears a sleeveless red yukata over it with long skirt panels, a pink sash tied around her waist, a white hakama sashinuki and black ankle boots.
Yes, it is different but at the same time not, they have simply changed the color palettes of their outfits and that's it, leaving the only real difference being Momiji's short reddish-brown hair.
"Botan? No, why have you come back!? It is too dangerous here, I am going to buy you time and-"
"Sister… You are still trapped by a group of roots, better worry about your safety first"
"No, that's not it, where did they come from!?"
Looking at the green roots that have kept her still for a few seconds, then at the senior priestess in front of her and finally at the complete lack of cat yokai in the surroundings, the "blazing flame" in Momiji's eyes is reduced to a minimum.
Together with the retreat of the adrenaline that was pumping throughout her body, although perhaps this girl is someone with a short fuse just as her choice of colors demonstrates, understanding reaches the young priestess apprentice.
Had everything been solved at some point without her realizing it? But what matters is that her sister is fine, there are no longer any yokai around and there is even a senior priestess in front of them. Yes… They are safe.
"From the beginning, when you came out of-. Sister Momiji!"
"Calm down, she has only fainted from the exhaustion of the fight"
"Good… But is she going to be alright?"
Looking worriedly at Momiji's pale figure, which suddenly becomes unconscious atop the roots, Botan quickly enters a state of panic, although thanks to Kikyo's words she finally calms down.
"Yes, she just needs to rest for a moment. Asuka, Kochō, clear the yokai from the surroundings"
"Understood teacher Kikyo" x2
"Stop looking at me and help me carry her inside the shrine, Botan"
Giving her something to occupy her mind, so that she does not fall into some stupid feeling of self-blame or something similar, Kikyo waits until the priestess apprentice is ready and they carry Momiji inside the shrine.
The large room, the only one throughout the interior of the shrine that seems to serve as a place of prayer, smells of incense and fresh offerings. It is quite likely that they attacked at an inconvenient moment, otherwise everything would not be so fresh.
With that uninteresting explanation out of the way, Kikyo and Botan begin to take care of Momiji's situation, giving her a place to rest and regain consciousness.