[UPDATE IN PROGRESS] Onmyou-Pocketville: Fallen Dusk

Chapter 38: A Search

Ava! Eva! Where are you?

Imbeciles... You won't find them... and I knew this trap would not work at all...

Shut up you repulsive ghost!

No need to be rude... But what you will know is that they're taken care of...

~ * ~

The chirps of numerous crickets and katydids in the evening filled the quiet void, and humid summer air had moistened up the surface of the two sisters' pelts. But what truly woke both of them up was the smell of the outside: rainwater left from yesterday's shower and the greenery of a grove. They were outside indeed.

Ava blinked, then looked around, her feline face bewildered. "How? I thought we were in my chamber!"

Eva sniffed the air, then pointed her snout to a certain direction up the cobbled path. A dim glow could be seen behind all the leaves of the gargantuan trees. "We must be some distance away from the palace..."

Eva was right in this case, as both her and her sister looked around to see that they were in a valley nearly covered entirely by woodland, with towering trees such as the brindled beech, emerald pine, shining ginkgo, and indigo paulownia, which were all behind the cherry blossom trees lined up along the cobbled path. There were nearly nothing but quiet green hills and solemn trees north of the grand palace and its grounds, as the valley to the north was rather secluded and rural compared to the Kyou Valley the palace overlooked to the south, where the capital dwellers resided in a vibrant town. Other hills could be seen from the treetops and even Shirosan mountains out in the distant north including Shiroboshi-san, the tallest mountain in the queendom. However, it did not mean the northern valley was completely without denizens. Onmyoujin were spiritual, yet civilised beings who also had such a strong connection to nature as it is where their mana had their roots, but at the same time they were quite mortal and mundane. However, the denizens of the secluded and mysterious areas, be it leafy and dark forests, searing desert with sands that could fry an eggplant, shadowy caverns with spiked stalactites, or damp, dreary swamps, were rather mystifying, and seem to lack a true physical form as if they were ghosts.

However, there was another shrine near the twins which was right next to the river, but was much smaller and more private than the Grand Omori Shrine on the small hill next to the palace. They were right on the path which leads to it.

Eva kept her voice low, just as she slowly stepped forward. "We have to beware of any bakemono around here..."

"I doubt they would try to go anywhere near a clearing," replied Ava.

"We can't take chances, my dear sister. It's night, Inzuki is out, and for sure the three stars are rising right now. That's the time when they would come out to play tricks on those who enter places like these, or even worse."

Ava shuddered just as a cool wind brushed against her and Eva. "I could never imagine what would be worse than being tricked by a spirit like them."

"It's best not to know. We have to get back to the palace. That Shiranui is messing around with us all just so we won't start the Mitsugoboshi ritual. This path leads to the river shrine, and connects to the palace gardens, so–." Eva froze, just as she heard the noisy rustling of tallgrass. "Who's there?"

Ava huddled close to her sister, whom she felt trembling under her raised fur. Ava's fur puffed up as well, like a cluster of pine trees all across a coniferous forest. The dread of encountering another bakemono crept up on her like a spider in the dark, as her heartbeat quickened even more. But at the same time, it could just be some wanderer who got lost.