The Nightmare and the Invitation

Under a dim and gloomy sky, a young girl with long black hair, dressed in a thin white robe, lay quietly upon a desolate landscape with her eyes tightly shut. The howling gale swept across the earth. Feeling a piercing chill, the girl’s brow twitched slightly before she slowly opened her eyes.

She stood up on the barren ground, crossing her arms over her chest to shield her thin frame from the cold. Her gaze wandered toward the distance with confusion. Against the dark horizon, she saw the silhouette of a colossal tower. At the sight of this great shadow, her heart throbbed with a strange trepidation.

"This is..."

"This is our destination, our nightmare..."

As the girl whispered to herself, a raspy, mournful female voice answered her. The girl whipped her head toward the source of the sound. There, she saw a translucent figure dressed in red and white miko robes. The miko’s skin was deathly pale; she tilted her head, her eyes wide and fixed on the girl with an eerie, unblinking stare.

A shudder ran through the girl. Before she could speak, the miko continued to shriek in a hoarse voice, and two streaks of bloody tears began to roll down from her eyes.

"Save me..."

Suddenly, the translucent miko underwent a horrific transformation. Her pale skin rotted instantly, her smooth hair withered, and her flesh peeled away. Her eyeballs fell from their sockets as her skeleton was exposed. The once-pristine miko robes decayed into rags in a heartbeat. In an instant, the miko had turned into a skeleton draped in rotting flesh, lunging straight at the girl with her mouth agape.

The girl gasped in shock and instinctively took two steps back. However, the ground behind her suddenly split open. A withered, skeletal hand burst from the earth and clamped firmly onto her ankle. Aghast, the girl looked back to see countless miko remains clawing their way out of the soil. They swarmed her from behind, seizing her limbs and waist with their desiccated claws. Within moments, her back was covered with miko remains, their grip so tight she could not move an inch.

"Save me..." "Save me..." "Save me..."

The miko remains pressed their skulls against her body, their mouths opening and closing as they repeated their raspy, rhythmic chanting. The girl struggled to break free, but she could not shake them off.

"Let go of me!"

While they chanted, the miko remains maintained their iron grip on her. Their weight seemed to increase, slowly dragging her down into the earth. Under this ever-growing pressure, the girl’s body began to sink into the soil along with the skeletal remains.

"Let go... No..."

Panic flared in the girl’s eyes as she faced her impending burial. Throughout the process, the low whispers of the miko remains continued.

"None of us... can escape this fate alone... no one..."

"Entangled resentment will swallow everything..."

"Come... return... to where you belong..."

The girl’s eyes went wide as she was gradually dragged into the depths of the earth by the countless miko remains...

In a room within the outer buildings of the Inari Shrine, Kikyo jolted awake. She did not sleep on a floor mat, yet she sat up with her eyes wide, gasping for breath. The sound of her heavy respiration echoed through the dim room.

"Huff... huff... A dream... another dream... and it felt... even more real this time..."

Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Kikyo recalled the details of the dream. It had felt incredibly vivid, as if she had experienced it firsthand.

"That place... I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere, but I can’t remember... and those miko..." Kikyo tried harder to recall the dream, but then she noticed something. At some point, an arrow had appeared in her hand.

Staring at the arrow, Kikyo paused for a moment. Her expression darkened as she stood up and placed the arrow into the quiver standing by the side of the room.

In the morning, within the small building inside the Secret Realm of the Inari Shrine, Miketsu was being assisted by Kikyo as she dressed. During this time, she listened to Kikyo’s account of the nightmare from the previous night.

"What... a high tower? And miko wraiths haunting you?" Hearing Kikyo’s words, Miketsu frowned slightly while putting on her white undergarment.

"Yes, Lady Uka..." Kikyo replied softly, standing by with Miketsu’s outer robe in hand.

"You’ve had strange dreams before... was it similar to those?" Miketsu asked after a moment of thought.

"Very similar. However, in the past, I could only hear voices. After a while, I started seeing blurry figures. Last night’s dream was the clearest and most realistic one yet..." Kikyo spoke with a hint of anxiety. These peculiar dreams had only started occurring over the past few months.

"I see... Since the dreams have progressed to this point, we cannot ignore them. From today on, remember to pray for my protection before you sleep, or simply sleep here within the Secret Realm," Miketsu said thoughtfully. She was not entirely without clues regarding Kikyo’s dreams.

"Yes, Lady Uka..."

Miketsu knew very well where her head miko had come from. Thirteen years ago, she had performed a ritual to guide the soul of a miko she found in the ruins of Heijo-kyo. Kikyo’s past life had clearly involved something significant; perhaps it was that past life that was causing these bizarre nightmares now.

As for what Kikyo’s past life and the ruins of Heijo-kyo were connected to, Miketsu already had some suspicions. Her current trip to Heian-kyo was partly intended to investigate such matters.

Finally, Miketsu finished putting on her outer robe and donned her eboshi. Her hair and eyes gradually turned jet black as the image of Asakura Hao manifested once more.

Riding her little donkey, Ami, Miketsu crossed Suzaku Avenue and arrived at the Onmyoryo. Leaving Ami to graze in the stables, she hurried toward her destination—the Astronomical Pavilion atop the Five-Story Pagoda.

Climbing the tower, Miketsu entered the Astronomical Pavilion only to find Yura buried under several stacks of documents, writing furiously as she reviewed them.

"Yo, long time no see, Yura. I thought you’d be over at Seimei’s place."

"Sigh... I wish I were. I just can’t get away lately. Neither of you two bother with management, so all these miscellaneous affairs have been dumped on me..." Yura let out a weary breath and shot Miketsu an annoyed glare.

"Ha... that sounds tough. Have things been that busy lately? I thought you’d have a lighter workload after the Inari Festival."

"More or less. It’s certainly less than before, but a case involving several deaths popped up recently, and it’s quite irritating..." Yura said, scratching her head.

"Involving deaths? What kind of case? Do we need to intervene?" Miketsu asked. While supernatural incidents involving human lives had become rare over the past few years, they hadn't vanished entirely.

"It’s about three different girls who committed mass suicide on the same night. It’s a bit eerie, but I’ve already sent people to investigate. It’s not yet at the point where we need to step in..." Yura said slowly before turning her gaze toward Miketsu.

"By the way, the probe you asked me to send to the Minamoto Clan has received a response. The head of the Minamoto clan sent a reply in his own hand." Yura continued. Probing the Minamoto Clan was a request Miketsu had made to Yura following the incident with Suwako.

"Minamoto no Yorimitsu? What did he say?"

"He was very direct. He said that if Lord Asakura Hao has any doubts regarding the Minamoto Clan, he is capable of answering them. He has invited you to the Minamoto Residence, where you can question him on any matter in person."