Etched In Their Minds

Septemdecim: Shrine Maiden

Her fair-white-skin-clad hand reached out to grab the book on the stone. The moment one of her fingertips touched it, the scene which she was looking at changed completely.

From a lush green forest and a mysterious book atop a rock to a destroyed village full of dead bodies left, right and center.

Her eyes adopted a despaired look as she stared at the dead and mutilated body of her mother. She looked around and saw more people from her village, horrifyingly mutilated, some to the point of beyond recognition.

Tears trickled from her chin and to the floor. She looked down on her body and saw that she was no longer human.

Her fair white skin became gray with a rough texture of leather and scales combined. There were extra body parts on her body. An extra pair of teeth on the foot, a huge eyeball on her navel and gross gray and brown tentacles on her back, arms and head.

Her face became that of a monster, but not fully. The right side of her face was still the same as usual.

This happened in a matter of hours. Destruction of a village, genocide of a village and corruption of a shrine maiden.

This girl was Ichi. Only Ichi. Her last name was forbidden to be uttered or written.

The next moment, she was laying on the ground while looking at the retreating figure of a titan. An abomination. Manifestation of the High Priest, Cthulu. He disappeared into the vast ocean as Ichi laid there, propped up against a rock.

She looked at her stomach and saw how inflated it was. Her monster-like stomach which had been impregnated by Cthulu.

The next moment, a little girl with short purple hair squatted down in front of a squirrel. She tried getting its attention by holding out a half-a-handful of sunflower seeds.

She had been feeding this squirrel for the past two months, and the thing had started to trust Ina.

In the next moment, a small rock accelerated towards the squirrel, but before it could hit the poor thing, the scene changed.

Ina opened her eyes abruptly. She used her hands to prop herself up and looked at her surroundings. She was back in her room. Although on the floor, she was back to reality at least.

She sat down and touched her face. She remembered that dream way too vivid for it to be considered a dream. Then it clicked.

[That wasn't a dream... those were memories...]

-inertia-

Ina leaned back on her chair as she thought back to the 'dream' she had earlier.

[...What was the point of making me suffocate? What happened anyway. Why couldn't I breathe? I saw the book, which was picked up by..... I guess the First Ancestor? She was corrupted, then killed everyone in her village, and was.... impregnated by Cthulu...]

Ina groaned frustratingly after she sorted out her thoughts.

[I've already guessed AO-chan transferred chopped up memories of the First Ancestor to me.... but why? What is the point of showing me these things.]

Two reasons she speculated why; the more likely one, something was about to happen to her, or the less likely one, the prophesized "End of All" was about to begin.

The prophecy was very vague, and talked about a war between two sides. Every important piece of this war would awaken their true potential and participate in it. There was a chance, albeit slim, that Ina gaining memories from the First Ancestor pertains to the 'awakening of the full potential'. This was further supported by her ascending to a High Priestess.