The Cursed Iris

Sprout 58: Neikan

Minori was sitting around with both Yukiko and Chiyoko in a room in the castle. The room was huge, it was covered in ice, tapestries of a little girl in a kimono being held by an older man about fifty years old.

"Aww Yukiko you were adorable little girl!" Chiyoko giggled.

"Shut up." Yukiko replied visibly annoyed.

Minori stared at them as they began to argue, "Glad to see that you're all here," Aimi stated as she walked in.

They all noticed that she was dressed up in her formal wear, a pure white and gold kimono, hair pinned up in a bun with a white comb, with gold eyeliner, "Well look at you," Chiyoko stated.

Aimi smiled, "Thanks Chiyoko, I called you three here because the other Dashavatara are busy with other tasks right now, plus this one could only be entrusted to you three," she stated.

"What exactly is the tasking?" Minori asked.

"I have a negotiation trip to Insholu, and I need my most trusted wizards to accompany me. I know I'm a powerful wizard but me going there by myself would seem more suspicious than going there with escorts." Aimi explained.

They were all surprised, "What about Usagi? What will you do with her?" Chiyoko asked.

"She's coming along with us. She's been interested in going to Insholu to learn about the abilities they use there as well." Aimi smiled.

Usagi ran into the room, "Mother did they say yes?" she asked. They all noticed that she seemed super excited about this trip. That's when they came to the conclusion that Aimi asking them wasn't for her, it was for Usagi.

"We were just telling Aimi that we're coming along with you both," Chiyoko said.

Minori and Yukiko both nodded in agreement. Usagi jumped around in excitement; her excitement seemed to be contagious too, but they appreciated that. Minori chuckled, "I'm glad she's still got the same personality she's had when she was just a little girl. It's refreshing, because with the way things may go..."

Chiyoko kicked her, "You're right," Minori sighed.

"So Empress Aimi when do we leave for Insholu?" Yukiko asked.

Aimi had a large grin on her face, "We'll leave first thing in the morning, so rest up or how about we all do some training if you'd like to?" she asked.

They all could tell that she was excited and pretty eager to spar with them, "Training it is," Chiyoko chuckled.

*****

Kikyo and Shizuko both exited a portal breathing heavily, "I knew we couldn't trust Mizuho," Kikyo panted. "That bitch set us up!"

"Calm down, your flames are starting to flare," Shizuko stated.

"How can I be calm when my entire group has been captured, Asami is nowhere to be found, I have no way to contact her nor the others. Being calm is the last thing I want to be right now." Kikyo replied. Her purple flames continued to flare as she felt herself getting angrier. "I'm going to go rescue them."

She summoned the Kitsu-Kukan, "Either you're with me or you aren't," she mumbled.

"Of course I'm with you," Shizuko sighed.

"I wouldn't do that," Asami said as she walked up. "Since those three got captured they might be taken to Neikan himself. Maybe we should bust them out or maybe we should wait and come up with a plan. They have material that can cancel spirit energy and a person who has a gear that can do the same. He would've been the person to capture them."