The Sakura Witch

~The Ruins of Sangonomiya Shrine~

Yae and Raiden Ei couldn't believe what they were seeing. Hordes of dead and unconscious soldiers, and even some people living in the small towns near Sangonomiya Shrine. As they made their way to the shrine itself, several shrine maidens were wounded, their Miko dresses torn, and some covered in bloody Sakura petals.

The Sangonomiya Shrine was trashed. decorative stonework chipped off and water splashed everywhere. Bloody Sakura petals covered dead bodies and as they approached the entrance to the shrine, Sangonomiya Kokomi emerged from the small palace. 

"Thank goodness you're here, I hope we can see past our differences so we can figure this out." Kokomi said, floating down to the ground.

"Yes, Sangonomiya Kokomi, I will forgive you. Now, would you care to tell me what happened here?" Ei said, looking around at the horrifying scene.

Kokomi bit her thumb nail and sighed. She let out a spell and did a visual storytelling of what happened. blue water ribbons and waves enveloped the three and a visual popped up.

Kokomi began narrating over what the waves were showing

"This morning, everyone was going about their daily business, when a shrine maiden showed up, however she was not wearing the blue Miko dresses of the Sangonomiya shrine. We all paid no mind to it, until we saw her pull out a glowing sakura petal. She began savagely attacking all of Watatsumi Island, her attacks too quick for even our most skilled soldiers. She made off with a bunch of Sango Pearls, leaving the entire island in ruin."

The waves and ribbons dispersed, and they were back at the shrine. 

"I have a way to stop her." Yae said confidently. "It's this."

She took out the charm Sakura gave her. Kokomi started at it and her face slightly lit up.

"Oh, wow! This could help! Um...what does it do?" 

"It should trap the girl and allow us to strip her of her power. Oh, Ei, do you by any chance know where she will be going next?" Yae said.

Ei used a power. The light purple in her hair glowed, and she began glowing with purple electricity. As she floated back to the ground, she looked at Yae with an urgent look. "She's heading for Tartarasuna. We need to go now."

Yae nodded and began following Ei. She then looked back at Kokomi. "Are you coming with us?" 

"No, I need to stay and heal everyone. You guys can solve this issue by yourselves." Kokomi gave a small smile to Yae.

Yae nodded and left. As her and Ei passed the old Mouun shrine, Ei observed something. "Even through all that destruction, it seems like Hina didn't even touch the shrine."

She was right. The shrine, despite still being severely trashed and abandoned, was in the same condition it was before Hina came to Watatsumi Island. 

Suddenly, they noticed something sparkle under the dirt in the abandoned shrine, and Yae Miko's vision glowed brighter. 

"What was that?" Yae said, looking at the shiny thing.

Ei bent down to look at it, and it seemed like it was a vision. "It's a vision. Maybe we can go see who it belongs to first."

Yae pulled the vision out of the dirt, and saw it was dead. It was gray and had no elemental symbol in it.

"The vision is dead." She said, holding it in her palms.

"Oh, well, then let's do this..." Ei conjured up a sword and shoved it in the dirt. she then strung the vision on a rope and hung it on the handle of the sword, then left a stone tablet reading, "For the fallen soldier, may he rest in peace" (戦死した兵士に安らかに眠ってほしい)