Omake 05: M & M
Days had passed since then looking back on it she wasn't sure how she survived but Tokiha Mai did. When she first awoke from her tumble off the ship she awoke in a hospital bed, the place made her sick it brought back memories but thankfully she was discharged quickly enough. Honestly she felt that she couldn't have gotten out of their faster.
No sooner had she left that place did she find herself at Olympia a car and her belongings prepared. Not really having any other place to go she accepted the ride offered to her by a chauffeur in a white limousine but stayed alert and readied an Agitation spell to set him alight if the need arose but it didn't. The driver explained that she had been out for only a day and presently it was the afternoon and school had just ended. Just her luck she thought she had missed the first day of school not that it really mattered in retrospect to her harrowing experience out at sea.
When she arrived at Olympia Gakuen she was immediately ushered to the Pure One Fumi who explained the situation. To say she was shocked was an understatement but to be honest with herself Mai had to admit that she was pleased by this turn of events for now it meant that her wishes could finally be fulfilled.
It was also the same day that she saw it; the conflagration off in the distance somewhere beyond the hills. At first she thought it was a fire but there was a huge surge of mana emanating from their and the following day she learnt after some investigation that what had occurred was in fact a battle between two powerful MEGAMI the very beings she was supposed to summon and command. Fear crept over her but determined to achieve her goals she pushed them aside. She completed her investigation by morning but couldn't find the MEGAMI and their Masters responsible for the incident until after school when by accident she noticed them arguing over a MEGAMI with blue hair. She was sure that the blue haired German girl and the scary looking blonde were MEGAMI since they both carried a strong magical undercurrent about them that dwarfed the other two.
Partially amused and partially confused by the situation she decided to avoid them for the time being not really sure how she should handle them. Fumi being polite said "beat" but what she meant without all the sugar was kill. Determined to have her wishes granted Mai set about trying to find a means to summon her own MEGAMI. Although Fumi had not told her anything about which MEGAMI was which and who were Masters even potential ones she at least told her what was needed to summon a MEGAMI of her own. The only problem was that she didn't have a Focus she felt would summon a MEGAMI powerful enough to compete with the other already seen MEGAMI.
She had some items many of which were quite old but none of which she figured she could use until finally she came across something that caught her eyes. It was set of Buddhist prayer beads made of wood amongst the belongings she had brought from the attic of her family's home. They didn't look very valuable but there was a strong feeling she got from it that she couldn't understand. It was almost like a magnetic feeling but in a very subtle fashion, it wasn't a clear physical pull but a subliminal one that always seem to draw her attention unconsciously to them. She would look at them for one second then turn only to find herself looking at them again the next, if she threw it one corner while looking for something to use she would eventually find herself in that corner looking at it again. So deciding that this must be fate and so she used those beads.
The ritual was hard and laborious but not impossible but the thing about summoning a MEGAMI was that unlike other spells or techniques there were no strict incantations to it rather the Master had to create the incantations himself or herself. And everything was left up to chance since there was no way of knowing if the incantations were correct or if they were even needed. Though like with words and text there was more than one way to address a spell and more than one language with which to incant it so in the end Mai chanted in an old form of Japanese the language her family had always used if only to act as a crutch to lean on.
She began the ritual in the morning and chose to do it inside a cave within the forest where she set up runes and glyphs to guard her from surprise attacks. It took her all day to complete, summoning up a circle of light to bring out the glyphs of summoning she suspended the prayer beads she used and chanted for hours. Fatigue, hunger and the powerful need to use the bathroom hounded her but still she kept on and on until finally night fell and the spell succeeded. She felt a powerful burning sensation on the top of her left breast and as peered to it she noticed that a hole had been burnt through her clothing to reveal a set of glyphs that had etched themselves into her skin, the Master Seals and out of the circle emerged a single figure. But unable to hold on anymore Mai ran into the bush to relieve herself and eventually sauntered back to the cave but the glyphs were gone and so was her MEGAMI. She began to panic thinking she had failed at the last second went she answered nature's call but sighed in relief when she saw footsteps in the dirt leading away from the cave. The peculiar thing though was that there were also handprints as though her MEGAMI had walked on all fours. She followed them to the school cafeteria where the door had been ripped off. Entering cautiously she soon found a small child stuffing her face with food she was pilfering straight out of the freezer.
The diminutive child looked to be about 12 maybe younger, she had short spiky hair with two braided tails at the side, her eyes were a bright yellow and she had a cute face that reminded Mai of a kitten. She was dressed in what Mai identified as a cross between Buddhist robes and the battle robes of samurai, she wore socks and sandals at her feet just as they did and over it all some flimsily attached plates of samurai amour. The collection was a complete set consisting of the breast plate, pauldrons and thigh guards but there was something wild and uncouth about the way it had been done. To make matters more interesting rather she didn't seem to have weapons on hand just a small ornate item at her side that resembled a cat made from bending a single thick golden wire with 5 gold rings between it. Mai decided to make her presence noticed.
"Ahem, excuse me," she called out no more than a meter away.
The cat-like girl looked at her with the most innocent look imaginable which simultaneously made Mai pleased and worried. Pleased because the girl looked very cute and friendly but worried her because unlike the blonde ancient and the raven blue soldier this girl didn't look very tough.
"Arfft gguuu maaaiii Mfaffter?" the girl asked with her mouth full of food.
Mai managed to get to gist of what the little girl had said and answered.
"Yes, I am. I'm your Master," she responded politely pleased that she found her MEGAMI.
"Offfkkkyyy," the girl responded and went back to eating which confused Mai even further because she was under the impression that as spirits they didn't eat.
"What's your name?" Mai finally asked.
"Meeewwaahhhffuuutooeee Muuufffnnaaaaffngnii."
"Wha…?"
"Meeewwaahhhffuuutooeee Muuufffnnaaaaffngnii."
"…Mikoto Minagi? Or Minagi Mikoto "
"Muuufffnnaaaaffngnii Meeewwaahhhffuuutooeee?"
"Ok, I think I'll just go with Minagi Mikoto. Ok?"
"Bboffffkeee," the possible samurai finally said more interested in eating than talking.