Silence over Nekojima #14
The four teenagers observed silently as the old priestess gathered herbs and poured water into a small earthen bowl, mixing them together. She muttered something under her breath and the liquid began to steam almost immediately, as though it had been simmering over a fire.
"What is this for, Tomoko-san?" Miko inquired sheepishly.
"I will pray to Lady Toomo for the strength to defeat her enemy, but first we must be purified."
"We?" Ryuji ventured. He wasn't entirely comfortable with this, and Hinata's words still stung. As if any of them would stick their necks out for him! Actually, they probably would, which just made him feel even shittier.
"You will help me."
Nervous, the four companions knelt before Lady Toomo's shrine, cups in hand. Tomoko spoke with the calm solemnity of ritual, her voice ebbing and flowing like the ocean's tides.
It lifted their spirits, making space for the hope that all would be well, that Toomo and Tomoko would save Nekojima.
The fog would be lifted, the monstrous mannequin creatures would be banished, and their loved ones would be returned to them.
Even cynics like Ryuji couldn't deny there was a power in that place, gathering like static electricity before a storm.
Naru, who had some passing familiarity with the supernatural, could tell that Tomoko's mixture was potent, whatever it was. It coursed down her throat like liquid fire.
Hinata closed her eyes and inhaled the fragrant steam; it immediately went to her head, like she imagined a cup of sake would.
Miko's senses felt strangely heightened: every color seemed richer, the lights almost bright enough to hurt. She could hear her companions' breaths, rising and falling, yet she felt oddly remote, floating.
And then, she felt nothing at all.
