[UPDATE IN PROGRESS] Onmyou-Pocketville: Fallen Dusk

Chapter 37: Lingering

Later, that evening...

An amalgamation of images appeared in the haze of a fleeting dream. Six young figures wearing pale masks and red cloaks ushered a maneki-neko towards the enormous ceremonial fountain in front of Omori Palace. The Senki briefly morphed into a smallish and very scared red kitsune before reverting back to Yume. Then, Yume appeared on top of the pillar completely without any emotion, whilst the Shousha made slow, hypnotising, and rhythmic movements as they played their music, the monarch allowed her heartstone to proceed forward, and the other masked Onmyoujin just stood and watched. After a very bright flash following the queen and Shousha fainting, Emiko was taken to the wall connecting the fortress-like towers, where a tremour slowly became more and more noticeable.

Emiko looked over her shoulder to see that some of the Royal Guards stared down at the fountain with eyes of dread just as the tremour continued, and the tip of the pedestal materialising what appeared to be a dark cloud. This had prompted her to sprint as fast as she could and find stairs leading to the lower levels. She lifted a trapdoor next to a turret and sauntered down the steps, reaching an ornate orange corridor of the palace. She ran even faster, not even caring about her poor knee, just as random servants fled before her in screams of dread.

"It's happening!" "The Ceremony failed!" "The sacrifice was not worth it!" came the shouts and shrieks, which zipped past Emiko.

Emiko suddenly stopped just as the cloud burst into an abrupt wave of powerful miasma, which appeared like dark smoke.

"The Shadowing! It's upon us!" called one of the royals.

Emiko had no other choice but to keep moving. Many other royals and nobles– some she recognised as tenneko with elegant collars and accessories, as well as other servants rushed over to seek safety just as the castle trembled with the hill it was on.

She knew that this was what happens if a Shinnui Ceremony were to go wrong or if it was neglected. The queen, the Shousha, everyone had taken them very seriously, as it wasn't just a ceremony of passage but a sacred ritual meant to bind what they called a "sacred, eternal friendship" between a Senki and an Otherworlder. The previous Ceremony had failed to appease whatever was concealed, and it had become upsetted, wreaking havoc upon Onmyou. As the Onyx Turtle has said, without the Shinnui Ceremony succeeding, the queendom would vanish and become lost to history.

All of a sudden, Emiko skidded to a stop just as she saw a tenneko in gijinka form whose fur was mostly concealed by a full set of fuchsia and gold armour that seemed to belong to that of a powerful samurai. A pair of enormous pink and gold wings in the shape of a butterfly protruded out of her back, and the golden horns on her head seemed like they were part of the helmet she wore, but were actually real. She held two enchanted katanas in each front paw, but what stood out was the bluish heartstone on the collar around her neck.

"Emiko, it's not safe here," the monarch spat. "Not safe at all. I need you to go. Do you know what's happening?"

Emiko was confused by the sight of the queen wearing a set of samurai armour, as she was not used to seeing her in it. "Ami? But–"

"I said GO!! Don't worry about me. I'LL FIGHT THIS BLOODY BAKEMONO TO ASH, EVEN IF I DIE TRYING!!"

Emiko shook, startled at how out of character Ami was at that moment, but eventually her gut told her she had to flee with the others, which she did. The feline was not the sweet, adorable cat in vibrant kimonos and shiny jewellery that she knew, but a fierce, powerful warrior taking on the legacy of one of her grandfathers, who came from an influential family of samurai. She ran and ran and ran, not even feeling the pain in her knee anymore or caring about which corridor she swerved in, until she encountered a passage to whatever led below. The stairs somehow flattened and turned into what looked like a spiral slide, which made Emiko slide down to the underground level on her rear end as if she were in a playground structure. After she made it down, she continued on her hind paws as she sprinted deeper into the lightless passages except for mere candlelight, holding the handle of her walking stick firmly in one forepaw. She huddled in one corner, where she suddenly blacked out from exhaustion, hugging the walking stick close to her chest.