[UPDATE IN PROGRESS] Onmyou-Pocketville: Fallen Dusk

Chapter 13: The Shattering

Thirty and a half years earlier...

"Your Majesty, Your Highness, it is time for the ritual..."

"It is for the younger twin...The one who has fallen victim to the evil...She needs to undergo the procession..."

"Everyone shall know that she has been purified by morning..."

"Y-y-you must come with us immediately-y-y-y..."

——

"Let me go!"

In the dead of night, a quartet of miko, two inugami and two felines of different yokai species, were escorting a leashed Eva outside the castle, down the paved pathways of the gardens. The then-princess Ava, as well as her and Eva's maternal grandmother Queen Dowager Yuina, were treading behind. But the miko were not just simply escorting her somewhere like how the staff members would with any of the royals. In fact, they kept her limbs bound together by ropes so she would not use any means of violence against the Onmyoujin that took her to wherever they were heading to. A cloth was tied on her mouth to restrain her from biting anyone or attempting to tear off the ropes securing her legs and paws. Although Eva was in a rather distressing position, she had to be kept that way due to her unpredictable nature.

Miko, just like their real-life counterparts, are shrine maidens who are members of the Sylvan covens.

Eva had found a portal to Pocketville earlier that day, still in the deranged state she was when she and her three lackeys wreaked havoc and caused mayhem throughout prefectures of the Pocket Kingdom. Several Onmyoujin were frightened when they caught sight of the Tenneko twin, and the Royal Guards had to intervene. However, Eva used an unusual form of black magic to escape into the palace and get away from the guards.

The group of four were all looking for the garden's shrine as they moved in a ceremonial manner. They had expressions of responsibility and diligence, whilst Eva had the exact opposite.

"I must go now!" Eva yowled, her speech slightly muffled by the cloth. "I must go now!! Un-paw me at once, you foolish fleabags!"

"Your Highness, you need to stay calm." one of the miko said in a polite and courteous tone.

"Let me go this instant! You can't do this to me! I need to see my sister, and get that jewel of hers! I NEED that jewel! Now, now, NOW!!" Eva's pleas became more and more demanding. "I need it! I need it! I need it! I.........need........." Her breaths became noticeably shallow for a moment. I don't...

"That's enough," A different miko turned firm. "You need to listen to those in charge."

"Eva, please behave for once..." Ava mewed desperately.

Yuina didn't say anything; instead she nodded in agreement with her eldest granddaughter.

*"Well, porai on your coyly notions, my excuse of a sister!" Eva growled as she tried to squirm around. But it didn't sound like her at all...

She said one of the many swears of the Onmyoujin's language. In fact, it was one of the most profane of the glossary.

Ava and Yuina both gasped simultaneously in shock. But they shouldn't stop following the procession of Eva and the miko. They had no choice but to continue walking. At least the quadruplet miko were as calm and collected as usual.

Ava already knew what Eva sounded like ever since both of them were yearlings, starting to use anthropomorphised vocalisations rather than the animalistic mewling they uttered as very young infant kittens still not being weaned yet from suckling their mother. But the voice Eva spoke in, the sentence with the most vulgar of the swearings; it sounded like someone else, but not from a normal yokai for that matter. Perhaps it sounded like it came from an elusive creature from mythology. More specifically, a malevolent one due to its scratchy, repulsing tone.