Sally
Fujishima Estate: Old Shrine
Anyway, when things were all settling down and everyone was in their calm state, the silence was about to take over when Sally grabbed Mikage’s wrist which made her automatically turn and looked at her in confusion. Sally was not showing anything to her face but she was sensing something that she needs to tell Mikage.
“The spirit of your great-grandmother already left this shrine…” Sally started explaining what just happened at the shrine last night to Mikage.
“I see… that makes sense why it was totally ruined…” Mikage understood how those beasts managed to infiltrate their estate without having any hard time doing so.
“Her protection around the entire estate was already done – I mean, there was no longer any protection barrier lurking around here.” Sally explained more which Mikage already get but she wondered about one simple thing.
“I see but why I am needed here?” she wondered as she recalled what Serene told her last night before Sally woke up.
“At the old shrine altar, noticed something different around it?” Sally carefully asked Mikage what she could sense toward the untouched altar.
“Now that you mentioned it…I remember coming here and I collapse from touching the altar. I am not sure what happened back there or why it has that kind of effect on me.” Mikage vaguely recalled what happened to her when she was young as she approached the altar and was about to touch it when Sally speaks that making her halt.
“If you touched it when there was only one person who could, it was your great-grandmother. She has greatness in her…” Sally might be smiling but it was not showing on her lips and tried to say something to Mikage while looking straight at the untouched altar of their family's old and ruined shrine.
“And you’re thinking it’s me?” Mikage wondered as she sounded like she just wanted to make sure that it was really her that needed to touch it.
“I am not thinking about it. It has already chosen you since her spirit finally decided to leave and rest. Meaning to say, you’re going to choose whether to continue what she started or change it yet she hopes if you’re going to change it, it has to be for the better and best of everyone in the family.” Sally honestly cleared to her since it was the request of the great-grandmother who has been protecting the family till the new and unique shrine maiden come along. It falls into Mikage’s generation this time.
“She told you that didn’t she?” Mikage takes a couple of times to digest everything that she just heard when she just sighs as she guessed how Sally knew things before she could. Sally just smiled at her.
“Not exactly but yeah…it’s the best way to sum it up.” Sally answered flatly but Mikage was having doubts about it.
“Sally, I’m…” Mikage hesitated though Sally could definitely sense that she was already ready to take possession of it since it was destined to be hers. It was also already changing her since Sally could see how bright her glow was turning.
“I’m not gonna leave your side if you’re worried about that part.” Sally dropped it without hesitation and she was also caught off guard by what she just told Mikage.
“You do?” Mikage looked deeply into her eyes and Sally felt that she was looking straight at her soul which Serene could see it clearly.
“I do. Go on, I’ll be here whatever you choose to do with it.” Sally reassured her with a simple but genuine smile that she could muster for Mikage. Only Mikage could make the smile as she mean them.
“Help me with it.” She heard Mikage’s trusting voice that made Sally felt of wanting to make sure that this very maiden beside her received every protection that she could give. She was not sure why she felt that but she was starting to like how Mikage started to affect her in some unfamiliar way.
“I will.” Sally, out of the blue, reached Mikage’s cheek with her left and pulled her closer. She placed a reassuring kiss over Mikage’s temple before leaning on it.
“Go, I’ll be here.” Sally added that making Mikage smile before she leaned away.
When those words were being shared just between the two of them, those eyes that were with them seemed like not existing yet they were totally speechless by the sudden closeness of the two ladies. Sawako took notice of the bond between them was totally forming into such a strong one. She could tell that they could deal with things that might head their way which she love to witness to her youngest daughter.
Anyway, Sally might not understand clearly what she was feeling around the new shrine maiden of the Fujishima family but the only thing that she could understand whenever they were together, she felt light and alive. She can’t help but feel happy about it and even admitting that to Mikage, Sally felt that it was the right words to say. It was indeed the right move, a decision to stay beside Mikage.
‘After all, she’s our shrine maiden.’
“I know Serene but I wonder if she knew about the real us…” Sally answered the whispering voice of her beast through her mind.
‘We’ll see at the right time and don’t worry, I’m with you.’
“Thank you.” she smiled genuinely while she watched Mikage carefully touch the altar and there was something happened.
Mikage
When Sally gave her a kind of courage that hits Mikage positively, she just turned her heels and took a deep breath before she went closer to the altar once again. She approached it as her both hands touched the unique kind of mirror that has been molded into a fox mask like what her great-grandmother was wearing before.
“So what now?” Mikage turned to Sally as she asked her since nothing was happening until both of them saw a very strange flow begin to wrap around her.
It was indeed a strange kind of energy flow that can never tell whether it was good or bad as it just suddenly took a grip over her hands up to her arms before engulfing her entire body. Mikage gasped from the sudden strange flow that came out from the mirror and was about to drop it due to her jumpiness but did not occur. It was already wrapping around her, strangely dominating her. It was like it was engulfing her entirely and it was a bit frightening Sally could hear the rapid heartbeat of Mikage who was trying to drop the mirror. She seriously wanted to drop it or even smashed it to any place she could think of until Sally snapped her finger which was loud and clear. It was like Sally sent a kind of wave to catch the attention of Mikage from panicking and being frightened of what was suddenly happening to her. Mikage gasped and looked so worriedly at her crush, Sally.
“Calm yourself, Mikage, and just do what you usually do whenever there’s a possessed item that needs cleansing.” Mikage totally looked weak at Sally but she just received an encouraging smile as she was being instructed what she has to do with it.
“But it’s not evil or good…” Mikage tried to reason with what she could sense over the mirror that contained such power that only a chosen one can.
“Calm down and cleanse it.” Sally encouraged her again but this time it was more firmly that Mikage can really do it. Mikage sensed something along with Sally’s voice like it has the vibe that she just felt around Serene and it calms her instantly.
Upon hearing that, Mikage took a deep breath and carefully released them which made the strange energy that was wrapped around her – dominating her quickly froze to its spot. it just simply stopped from dominating her entirely. Then within just a few seconds, it quickly retracted and made a reverse movement as it went over Mikage’s wrists and ankles. As it was doing that, Mikage could smell a flowery fragrance that was coming from it which she found odd since she knew that she could not smell anything from any energies from either good or bad entities that she had encountered before. anyway, as soon as it was done wrapping around its designated parts of her body, it turned out to be a red bracelet with two golden bells each and it only rings when there was something strange around her.
“Why it was ringing?” Mikage took notice of the ringing of the bells that her new inherited powers kept on ringing.
“It was sensing something strange around you.” Sally answered which confused Mikage since she was not feeling strange around her.
“I don’t feel any strange at all.” Mikage honestly responded that making her look at Sally in puzzlement until her mother, Sawako took the liberty to say something to her.
“Are you sure that you did not sense anything whether a touch or a smell…” Sawako tried to ask her daughter until she mentioned something that clicked a thought in Mikage.
“Smell…I smell a flowery fragrance…” Mikage answered as she went into her thoughtfulness regarding that part.
“there. Concentrate there and describe the scent that you smell.” Sawako instructed her daughter who did as she was told.
“Ahmm…it was a lily with…rainfall cologne? It was a refreshing scent actually…” Mikage took a deep breath of the scent that she smelt and it was totally making her calm even more like she wanted to rest again.
“Show me where it was coming from strongly.” Mikage followed where the scent was leading her when she heard that instruction from her mother until she bumped over something warm and alive.
Mikage snapped from her smell and looked at who she bumped into. She immediately blushed over the sight of her crush but when she was about to say something, she started on sneezing. Sally took a step back from the sudden sneezing that Mikage was doing and it did not stop until her eyes started to water.
“Argh, why did your scent turn out something that would irritate me? Argh!” Mikage whined then she sneezed again and seems like she was about to cry from irritation.
“Well, I did not know that I had that kind of scent at all.” Sally slightly chuckled as she saw how red nose reindeer already Mikage’s nose was.
“It's because she’s your irritating mate.” Sawako smiled knowingly at them because no one who was with her knew about it.
“What do you mean?” Mikage wondered as she never recalled anyone in the family having that kind of effect whenever they were with their mates.
“It's a rare occasion between mates. Others could find there’s like the usual but some have different effects like what was happening between the two of you.” Sawako answered her daughter who noticed that the bells finally stopped ringing in their background.
“Are you feeling like this, Sally?” Mikage turned to her crush who was listening carefully to the information that Sawako was saying to them.
“No.” Sally flatly answered which made Mikage glare at her.
“WHAT?! Why so unfair?!” she reacted as she did not like that she was the only one feeling that and there goes her sneezing again.