For days on end, endless thumping noises echoed throughout the halls of the Myouren Temple. On Monday and Tuesday, it was of no grave consequence. The followers came and left as they always did, the sounds of feet scattering throughout the halls at least somewhat drowning out the bumps. Many approached Byakuren about it at first, but the nun quickly brushed them off as a matter she herself would soon handle. And bless her, she tried. She enacted numerous barriers and wards around her temple, in a desperate attempt to muffle the life out of whoever was disturbing her peace.
After it became clear that regular magic could not stop what she feared, Byakuren relayed her troubles to the one she knew would have experience in the area: Nue.
Byakuren did not speak to Nue much, and vice versa. So the shapeshifter was extremely surprised to hear the nun calling to her one morning, asking if she would kindly come down from the roof and inside for a cup of tea.
"What's this about, Hijiri?" Nue asked, settling into her chair and poking at her cup with a tentative finger.
Byakuren's normally cheery smile sobered up quickly, giving way to a face of grim resignation. "It's her."
"Her?"
"The noises we've been hearing, Nue-san. It's her."
Nue's eyes widened. There could only be one person this was about. Because there was only one person Byakuren ever talked about with such a solemn face (not even her younger brother, no, Myouren was remembered with a sad smile) and Nue knew she was trouble by default.
"Are you positive? We can't have false alarms..."
"I instructed Moriya-san and Yasaka-san to place the temple where it is for a very good reason. I needed to keep an eye on her," she said quietly, staring down at the liquid in her cup being carelessly bounced around by the noises afoot. "She's here, below us, below the graveyard. And she's waking up, Nue-san."
Nue bit her lip. "I'll do whatever I can." She was usually neutral in the temple's business, bouncing around and scaring the new recruits...but this was a case that needed handling.
"I'd like you to call in your tanuki friend, what was her name... Mamizou-san, correct?"
She nodded, and Byakuren stood up.
"Please alert her to trouble at once. And meanwhile, tell none of the others about this. I don't wish to cause manic alarm."
"Anesan..."
"Yes, dear?"
"What...what's going on?"
Byakuren gave Kyouko her best smile. Nue had set out for Sado the day before, and Byakuren had settled back into the pattern of trying to keep her guests and students calm while simultaneously trying to quiet the noises below. That day, however, was not in Byakuren's favor-the noises had gotten louder, and with that they'd attained a relatively high amount of seismic power. She had tried to settle down for her morning cup of tea like usual, but found it hard to concentrate while being unceremoniously flung up into the air every six seconds. At least it was within her power to levitate the table and cup along with her. Kyouko chose to rise and fall in tandem with the bounces, though both were surprised that the temple foundation was still standing.
Up.
"Nothing for you to worry about, okay?"
Down.
"But anesan...I don't think it's normal for the temple to do this...unless it's bounced around in the past. Has it?"
Up.
"Well, it did used to be a sailing ship. Perhaps you can go ask Senchou-san about that?"
Down.
Luckily for Byakuren, Kyouko's attention span wasn't quite fully developed, and the little yamabiko's face lit up as she scurried off to find her dear captain. Byakuren mentally apologized to Murasa for sending Kyouko to her yet again, but in those past few days, she had been the nun's savior in keeping the little girl busy and out of her hair. Normally she'd be more than okay with having Kyouko tag along while she performed her duties, but she was yet another person Byakuren didn't want to involve in the nasty business of a certain resurrecting Taoist.
It was later, however, that Murasa chose to pay Byakuren a visit.
The thumps had calmed down for the moment, thinning to merely annoying sounds of racket from a basement. Murasa leaned in the doorway to Byakuren's room, an unusual frown plastered on her pale face. "Hey? Byakuren-san?"
The nun rose up from her pile of blankets very slowly, previously attempting to get rid of the incessant headache she managed to get from the table-hopping. This plan was shattered of course, because it was Murasa-the one person that could wake Byakuren up with no provocation and get away with it. "Yes?" she called, shielding her eyes from the hallway light.
"What's been goin' on lately, huh?" Before Byakuren could protest, Murasa put up her hand. "I'm not a sac o' bricks, yanno. I can see there's somethin' up. An' you can tell me, right?" She knelt down, propping her chin up with her palms.
Byakuren sighed. She didn't like keeping secrets from Murasa of all people. But at the same time, she couldn't let this all spill out after she'd tried so hard to make sure there was no trouble.
"I am...having trouble with someone."
"Ffft. Well, obviously. I mean the specifics."
She opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out.
"Byakuren-san...?"
Byakuren fiddled her fingers awkwardly.
"Is it that Shotoku lady?" Murasa asked, pointing a finger decisively. "I knew she was givin' you trouble back then, but I thought she went and got herself comatose by drinkin' mercury or somethin' asinine like that."
"Suspended animation," Byakuren said. "It's similar to a comatose state, but you are completely aware of the time passing." She paused. "And it seems her suspension won't hold for much longer. The shaking, I believe it's the buildup of divine spirits beneath us, wanting to get out."
"I had a feelin', Byakuren-san," she said. "You got a plan for all this?"
"In a way...it was more of a preventative measure, but...I can't do much more 'preventing' it seems."
Murasa blinked a few times, looking over her shoulder at the last few scampering youkai heading to their bedrooms. "You'll think 'a somethin'. You always do."