We're making our way towards the address found at the center of intersecting lines we discovered a while ago. Well technically I was the one who found it but we're working together so the credits are being evenly distributed.
"Okay, I found something." announces Nik and makes his way towards me. "So decades ago the Church and the Onmyouji Union sealed a demon in this part of the city. They used the surrounding souls to power up their ritual."
"Impossible. A ritual from different branches of magic? Isn't that just a catastrophe?" Shizu retorts almost immediately.
I did not know that. But if what she said was true, then why are western demons and Japanese yokais working together at the moment?
I relayed Shizu's words to Uncle Gio who replies with; "Miss Shizu is right. The different branches of magic basically have different foundations, it's impossible for two different branches to seal a demon together."
"That's the thing, they succeeded." Nik exclaims with an unidentifiable look on his face.
Seriously, he looks like he ate something he couldn't understand. I saw him once with that expression and he's showing the same look.
""WHAT?!"" exclaims the two magic users in our group.
"It's not that surprising." I answer, holding on to my seatbelt since Uncle Gio is currently driving like a madman. "They're different branches, yes, and probably so diluted because of the length of time, but magic is magic with the same origin. What if whoever performed that sealing ritual knew what they were doing and that's the reason they succeeded?"
I'm met with silence. I'm hoping they're actually thinking about what I just said deeply. Wait… They're not… right?
But if I think of it that way, it's kind of logical! A demon, a western demon probably, was sealed by individuals using both western magic and eastern magic. The two different kinds of monsters working together to undo that seal is probably those behind the abductions and murders.
If that is so… Are they trying to break the seal and free the sealed demon? Isn't that like very dangerous?
"Nik, do you have any idea who performed the sealing ritual?"
I see Nik scrolling through his phone for the information. Wow. So even modern day ninjas use modern day means to store information.
I mean, Nik is a ninja! A half-Russian ninja, but a ninja nonetheless!
Ugh! Snap out of it April and focus.
"Unbelievable." I hear Nik say in disbelief. "Shinoe Tsuchimikado, Sakura-nee's grandmother."
The Tsuchimikado's were the ones who achieved it? That meant they worked with the Church.
Well, we're working with someone from the Church right now so I'm not that surprised. But still, she managed to seal a demon with the help of the Church. I can already assume that she mashed up the two branches of magic to succeed.
What a terrifying woman. May her soul rest in peace in the heavens.
Without any further ado, I dial Sakura-nee's number.
"Hmm? April? Why are you calling? Did you need something?" Sakura-nee's voice asks from the other line. She sounds a little stressed. I wonder if her paperwork is piling up again?
"I have a question."
"Klint is doing fine and he can be discharged in two days."
Seriously this woman…
"That's not what I want to ask."
"Oh. I apologize. Okay, ask away."
"About seventy years ago, your grandmother did a sealing ritual with the Church. Do you anything about that?"
Eh? Why is she silent?
"Sakura-nee?"
"How did you know that?"
I think I just felt chills run up my spine. Sakura-nee sounds scary.
"Erm… The case we're investigating in Okinawa may have something to do with the demon your grandmother sealed in Itoman City more than seventy years ago."
"What do you mean?"
"That's not really important right now."
"Ha?"
Ueerg… She sounds irritated.
"Do you know the details of the ritual and what kind of demon was sealed?"
"I don't know about the details of the ritual, but I do know what kind of demon it was. It was a powerful earth demon who was summoned because of the many deaths during the Battle of Okinawa. It was powered with enough deaths and resentment that it went out of control and killed everyone it set its eyes on."
So basically the usual power hungry demons.
"Sakura-nee, I think the abduction cases have something to do with that sealed demon."
"What are you-"
"I just got received a call from the Vatican." inserts Uncle Gio and shows me a magic circle with the three lines intersecting with each other forming what I call the weird X. "About seventy years ago the Church did a sealing ritual to a demon named Ferigo who was summoned in Itoman City. There are no records that they worked with an onmyouji for the ritual but the timeline kind of coincides with what Nik said."
Well there's one clue.
"The three intersecting lines are inscribed in the middle of the seal. I don't know about virgins but the seal is dependent on the ley line and the surrounding souls."
Eh? If that's what it was, why did they need six virgins?
"Hey April, Shiota-san from Sector Zero just called me. He sent me a list of what you asked."
She gives me her phone and reads the list of what was stolen from the robbery-spree just this week.
Mermaid scales, fairy dust, fang of a vampire, hair of a Zashki Warashi[1], feathers of a karasu-tengu[2] and remnants of an ancient mirror.
"Wait April, stop!" exclaims Sakura-nee on the phone.
"Sakura-nee?"
"Those things… they're ingredients."
"I beg your pardon?"
"I just found my grandmother's journal and I saw the spell she used to accomplish the sealing ritual from seventy years ago. She also recorded the way to break the seal. Those that you just read are the ingredients to break the seal along with the blood of a virgin nun and onmyouji, and a remnant of the demon."
Seriously? So my hunch about the robbery was actually spot on?
"Wait Sakura-nee!" Shizu interrupts. "How come it's not in the records that the missing teenagers are onmyoujis?"
"It was never recorded because they did not have the skill to be an onmyouji, but those teenagers have the blood on an onmyouji."
"And right now, the perpetrator has all ingredients on his hand." I say. "Uncle Gio! Floor it! Shzu, call Lt. Shiota and tell him to head to where we're going!"
"Good call April. Tonight is the full moon, a super moon at that, the perpetrators will definitely perform the ritual tonight. I'll head there as fast as I can."
The call is dropped and we head to our destination.
I can't help but get excited; after all we will be dealing with demons. And as far as my skills are concerned, the more enemies I defeat, the more powerful I'd become. And while I'm at it, I'll ask about the identity of that Lloyd-lookalike Licht called Levton li Dantalion.
Don't get me wrong, I'm worried about the abducted individuals as well, but I just can't pass up such an opportunity. It's like getting two birds with one stone!