Aya Alayana
Shinto - Church on the Hill
Morning Phase
"Hmmm, so you were eaten by fish. Is that what you are trying to tell me, Aya?" The nun replies, her deadpan stare strong enough to hide her own amusement. "Should anyone else share such a story with me, I would immediately begin to doubt their sanity. But if it's you, it must be true. Even if your activities can appear to be rather... Volatile... From time to time, you have yet to prove yourself a liar."
Caren Ortensia moves past the entrance that separates the room from the outside and you quickly follow. There, concealed behind the chapel which has, up to this point, acted as the final frontier that you would never normally cross, stands a mysteriously beautiful garden. Unlike the studio, which has been left in disarray on purpose, the garden is the exact opposite. You can tell the Overseer comes here often and takes care of not just the plants and flowers, but also the numerous marble sculptures that decorate it. Now that you stand in a place that you thought did not exist, you can tell how deceptively big the Church on top of the hill actually is. A shame you do not have the time to halt your movement and admire it. Because the current situation is pressing, both you and the nun cross its entirety in less than a minute.
"But, while I didn't do anything to get you out of this creature you speak of, I did, naturally, save you. Save you from painting a big target on your back, that is. Finding you outside the House of God, surrounded by demonic flame, threatening to burn the entire place apart, I had to stop myself and ponder for a moment whether it was an act done on purpose or not."
You attempt to piece back together the fragments of your memory and match them with Caren's version of the story, but it's ultimately all in vain. One would initially assume that, if she was not the one to get you out of that big fish, someone else must have. Then, that same person could have deposited you at the Church's entrance, knowing that its owner would take care of you.
... But that doesn't explain how they were able to do so while avoiding your Magecraft's nature. While the flames you can bring forth are not invincible, they are not something that can be shrugged off or ignored with ease.
There must be a part of the story that you are missing. That's the only reasonable explanation you can give at this time.
"Thankfully, I had access to some Special Cloth capable of sealing away your treacherous embers."
So she does have a method of fighting against a threat like yourself in some way. That said, considering the slight frown that she displays after saying that, you can guess that it was not as easy as it sounds and that it is likely that said 'Special Cloth' is not doing so well right now...
"..."
It's still dark.
It must be early morning, definitely before six A.M.
The moment you set foot outside, you increase your pace in search of a good vantage point. After all, while one cannot see the entire city from atop of the hill given how many obstacles stand in the way, there is a particular location that lets you look for the specific thing you are after. Needless to say, that is the location of the ghastly encounter last night, the bridge that was put down by your own hands, through your own power. The place that should still be a living hell after you lost consciousness and control of your flames.
... But the sight that greets you is alarming.
Indeed, one should be glad to see that nothing is wrong with the Fuyuki Bridge, which stands tall and firm in its entirety. However, to you, that glimpse is terrifying enough that your instincts alert you that this disturbance is not something that should be overlooked. Has your memory been altered, Has someone covered up that much damage in so little time? Every possibility seems unlikely and yet no possibility can be ruled out. Just what the hell is going on...?
And then...
As if to mock your efforts in trying to understand it all...
"Looks like we've found the culprit, Aya."
Focused on your own investigation, it is only then that Caren Ortensia returns to your field of vision. Her hand is silently pointing at something above.
There, up in the sky...
A rare phenomenon is taking place. 'Northern Lights', as it's called, something which has not been reported in Japan since 2004. But this time the entire scene is strangely sharp, clear-cut, almost too perfect to be an occurrence science can explain in detail, and instead the consequences of something much, much more dreadful.
And, indeed, that might be just be it.
For what Caren is pointing at is not the Aurora Borealis itself, but something else that can be found in that dark sky.
Something so small and so well-concealed -At least, at the moment-, that anyone without an outstanding eyesight would have been guaranteed to miss on one's first glance.
Yes, what you can see there now is unmistakably...
The promise of bad things to come.
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Originally Posted by Mike1984
