The Sakura Witch

~Sakura~

As Yae Miko came to, she got a good look at the figure, and it seemed like the girl was very important.

"Hello, Guuji Yae." The woman finally spoke. Her voice was soothing, almost like what you'd think sakura petals would sound like if they had a voice.

"How do you know my formal title?" Yae drew out her Gohei. If this was someone, even Hina, disguising as someone important. But the woman stayed completely still.

"My, you've grown quite a bit since I last saw you. Last time you were still an apprentice shrine maiden." The woman smiled under her kitsune mask.

"Are you...the Kitsune Saiguu?" Yae slowly put her Gohei away.

"Of course not! I'm someone a little more important. But I know you're smart, so why don't you have another guess?"

Yae paused. She knew that this woman wasn't going to reveal her identity unless Yae absolutely couldn't figure it out. She thought for a bit, then gave up, but she was still disappointed in herself.

"I don't know, unfortunately." Yae regained her composure and had a slight smile on her face.

"I'm the personification of the Sacred Sakura. Don't you remember me? I was a good friend of the Kitsune Saiguu, I came to visit when she told me you were training to be a shrine maiden. I was the one that made that Gohei. My name is, quite fittingly, Sakura."

Yae was taken aback by this information. "What? Nobody told me about you..."

"Because all the records of me are in journals that belonged to the Kitsune Saiguu, and those journals are buried with her. People assume that I'm just a hallucination. So I'd recommend you don't tell anyone about this if you want to retain your social status." Sakura explained. 

"Well, why did you take me here?" Yae asked.

"I came here to give you this." Sakura handed Yae a piece of wood with the kanji "桜", meaning "sakura". It had a white and red string on it, and it was adorned with a cherry blossom carving on the back.

"What is this?" Yae inspected the wood. She hadn't seen anything like it before.

"It's a charm to give you the ability to trap Hina. If you use it right, it will also strip her of her powers. It's my fault that she has these powers, but I cannot leave this space. I'm going to teleport you back now." Sakura waved her Gohei, and Yae was transported back to the real world.

Yae woke up and ran to Tenshukaku, where Ei was sitting eating some dango. She saw Yae and stood up. "Miko, what is it?"

Yae ushered Ei outside and they walked and talked.

"I met with an important deity earlier. I can't tell you who, but she gave me this. It's a charm that should be able to trap Hina. This combined with your powers as the archon should be able to stop her."

As they were talking, a guard ran up to Ei. 

"Almighty shogun, we've been getting reports that Watatsumi island is being attacked. Sangonomiya Kokomi has been forced to relocate her generals and the citizens of the island."

"Thank you for telling me. No need to send out guards, I shall go and see it for myself." Ei said. The guard saluted her and returned to his post.

Ei and Yae looked at each other, both knowing who was attacking Watatsumi Island. They both got ready and began walking there. They went on a boat to the Island, and the whole time there, they didn't know what to expect. But they kept their composure and was ready for anything. As they approached the island, they saw huge swaths of debris and destroyed homes.

As they climbed out of the boat, they were horrified at the sight they were seeing...