The Cursed Iris

Sprout 49: The Sun, the Storm, and Two Moons

Ayame was at a crossroads, and she couldn't decide which route to take, "Uh, Minori do you really think this'll help me," she stated, embarrassed. Minori had Ayame in a goofy outfit, which she and Chiyoko found funny. "Can you stop laughing please!" Ayame whined.

Katsumi, Natsume, and Usagi still haven't woken up, which was something she was glad about since it would be pretty embarrassing for her to be seen by Katsumi in this.

"Maybe I should wake Katsumi up huh?" Minori teased.

"Please don't!" Ayame screamed on the verge of tears.

"I'm only kidding," she chuckled, "but on a serious note Ayame don't you notice something different about the air around you?"

Ayame did notice that the air around her did feel slightly different, and it wasn't just because of the outfit. The air around her just seemed like it was happy. "You're right, the air around me seems excited."

"Those are your aura points reacting to the natural spirit energy in the air around you," Minori replied. She saw Ayame's confused expression. "So listen, natural spirit energy is what our body use for the ability to possess magic itself. Everywhere there's natural spirit energy and they all have different elements. Fire, water, lightning, wind, and earth are the five basic elements. If a person has magic that utilizes fire then they'll resonate with that said spirit energy."

Ayame nodded as she followed along, "Now to continue. Our specialty is to utilize the natural runes that derive from those. Natural runes are an advanced form of natural spirit energy, thus making them more powerful," Minori explained.

"So does that mean?"

"Yes," Minori replied as if she read Ayame's mind. "The Voice of Izanagi that both of us have can transform natural spirit energy into natural runes. But there is a catch to it."

"I bet it's something like it'll drain my own life energy, or something isn't it?"

Minori smiled, and that told Ayame she was spot on. "Why would I have an ability with such a stupid drawback?"

"I don't know, but it's pretty easy to get around to be honest. All you have to do is ensure that there's enough natural runes around. Take me for example," Minori said as a glowing symbol appeared over her hand, "I am able to sense that this area is abundant in natural runes, but that's to be expected of areas near Strong Spiritual Regions. There's a few areas that aren't near those regions that are abundant with natural runes as well."

Ayame's head was spinning from the explanation, but she slowly followed along. "Okay I think I got it."

Minori chuckled, "I see that that was a lot to take in. So how about we call it a day?"

Chiyoko woke up Katsumi, which made Ayame nervous, but before Katsumi could see her Minori snapped her fingers. When she did Ayame's clothing changed back to her normal ones.

"Hey Katsumi remember what tonight is," Chiyoko stated.

Ayame noted that the sun was beginning to set, and night was fast approaching. But what she was more curious about what is so special about tonight?

"Demon half breeds may seem like they're all powerful, but there's one thing that always stands out with them," Miya said.

"Every demon half breed has a certain time of the month where they lose all traces of their demonic half," Katsumi finished.

That shocked Ayame. "So you mean to tell me that Katsumi and Chiyoko will lose their powers?"

The sun was dipping below the horizon, and Ayame began to notice something about their hair. It began to turn black almost simultaneously with the setting sun. She continued to stare at them in awe.