A/N: Hey everyone, I hope you will enjoy this chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt.
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Flashback...
All the spiritualists had grim looks on their faces, knowing quite well what Kazuki was getting to. They all were looking at Mai worriedly, if things do become worst they don't have any way to save Mai if she becomes completely trapped in the astral plane.
...Flashback
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When Mai finally woke up, she saw a blurry outline of Ayako placing a blanket on her. As Ayako turned, Mai called out to her in a small voice, "Ayako."
If she weren't near Mai, she wouldn't have heard it with how weak it sounded. Ayako turned around and saw Mai's eyes open, "Thank goodness! You've woken up, we were so worried for you." Ayako exclaimed, catching the others' attention.
They all turned towards the girl with worried filled gazes and watched as Ayako fuzzed over the girl, "How are you feeling?" Ayako asked as she helped Mai to sit up.
Mai groaned, and in a weak voice answered, "Ugh, I feel as if though I'm being stretched into two. This must be what a mochi dough feels like."
Ayako rolled her eyes, "Well, I could see your feeling a lot better if you could joke around." Everyone was relieved to see that Mai was doing alright for the most part.
Mai then turned to the others, "What happened anyway? I feel as if though I'm forgetting something important?" Mai asked while rubbing her head, trying to remember what it was.
She then felt someone place a hand on her head, looking up she saw her grandmother, Hitomi then spoke, "It's just normal you'd feel that way after your body and soul have been misaligned in great proportions. You'll remember things once your soul settles into your body fully." Hitomi then began explaining to Mai everything that happened while she was unconscious.
As Hitomi was explaining everything to Mai, Naru was leaning against the window looking at his reflection. He tried to contact Gene through their connection, "Gene, can you here me."
Naru was giving up hope when Gene wasn't answering, but before he could look away Gene appeared looking worse for wear. "Noll." Gene said tiredly.
Naru narrowed his eyes, "Are you alright? What happened?"
"I'm alright for the most part, I don't know what happened. I was guiding Mai through the vision when it was interrupted by a black mass. Next thing I knew, I was ejected from Mai's astral plane with no way to go back." Gene explained, he was saying something else but the connection started to waver. Using his last bit of strength, he informed Naru to tell Lin about a dream eater.
Naru cursed when Gene vanished and their connection was cut-off, he tried to call out to Gene but to no avail. Naru then heard Miyako, "Shibuya-san, are you alright? I felt a presence near you so I came to check it out. Though it was strange since it wasn't malicious or anything of sorts."
The room was purged in silence, Naru turned to Miyako in shock. Lin and Mai were shocked as well. The others were confused on the there's reaction, Miyako asking, "Is there something wrong?"
Mai opened her mouth and blurted out, "No way! Miya-baa, you were able to sense Gene." Mai's exclamation confused Miyako and the Amamiyas, the rest of the team on the other hand caught on, on why Naru and the other two were shocked.
Masako, with her kimono sleeve covering her mouth, "That's amazing, I couldn't even sense him." The others looking at Miyako in amazement, who was starting to get flustered from the attention.
Kasumi, taking pity on Miyako, asked, "Who is this Gene you are referring to?"
Mai had sweat running down the back of her neck, not knowing how to answer. She didn't dare look at Naru but was shocked when he was forthcoming with the information, her being unconscious when Naru brought up Gene as Mai's spirit guide.
"Gene, or better yet Eugene Davis, is my deceased twin brother. He is also Mai's spirit guide." Naru answered, knowing quite well that there was no point in hiding it. Considering the fact that he already mentioned him being Mai's spirit guide. He then explained about how he and Gene had telepathic abilities with each other when he was still alive. Upon his death, their connection was broken for a while but then they were able to communicate using mirrors, windows, or any reflective material. He added that Gene was able to buffer his abilities, and could still do so as long as he touches a reflective material.
"Hmm, I have a feeling there's more to the story." Making Naru tense a little though it was unnoticeable. Kasumi continued, "But you explanation for the mean time would do and it explains the connection between you, Mai and another person." Kasumi was lost in her thoughts, with all the members of SPR looked at Kasumi in confusion.
Mai then asked, "Kasumi-baa, what do you mean by a connection?"
Kasumi blinked and was out of it, "Wha-...connection...hmm."
Kazuki sighed, he then pinched Kasumi's cheeks. "Kasumi, will you please explain your thoughts, none of as can exactly read minds."
Kasumi pouted while rubbing her cheeks, then turned toward the others laughing sheepishly, "Sorry about that, I tend to get lost in my thoughts when I find something interesting." She took a deep breath, "Now then, firstly, I am able to see auras, spiritual essence, psychic links and the like. The connection I'm talking about currently is that of a psychic link."
Lin asking, "What exactly are these psychic links? I've heard the term being uses but any information regarding it are scarce at best."
"Well it's expected that there would be quite a few information regarding it since at times people or spiritualist in this case do not even know they have one. Psychic links are special connections between two or more spiritualists, these connections are created when spiritualist meet with compatible abilities. This connections would help spiritualist to collaborate their abilities during exorcisms." Kasumi answered Lin.
She then said, "Naru, hmm, why do you exactly call Shibuya-san that?" Kasumi getting distracted. Mai clamped her mouth shut, Naru pinching the bridge of his nose, and the rest of SPR holding their laughter.
Lin not wanting anything to escalate decided to explain with the truth, well half truth since Mai was the one to coin the nickname. "It's the Japanese version of Naru's nickname which is Noll in English."
"Oh! I see alright then, so I hope you don't mind if I call you Naru as well." A hyper Kasumi said. Mai sighed in relief, but stiffened when Naru glared at her, she avoided his eyes.
Kasumi then clapped her hands together, with her face serious. "Alright then let's continue." The others had whiplash from her changing moods, with the exception of her mother, siblings and Miyako who just shook there heads in exasperation; quite used to Kasumi's mood swings.
"As I was saying, Naru and Gene's connection was a prime example of a psychic link, though there link is damaged at the moment. It could be because of Gene's death or something else but I could fix it." Kasumi explained with Naru's eyes widening.
Naru asked, "What exactly does my connection with Gene being fixed would do?" Lin adding a second question, "Would it cause harm to Naru?"
Kasumi first turned to Naru, "It would just return your former connection when he was still alive. You would be able to communicate with him without any restrictions."
She then turned to Lin, "As for it harming him, well, leaving their link broken as it is would cause a lot of harm than it being fixed. And just as I've said it would return their former link, meaning the strain of Naru's ability on his body would lessen. Thought they'll have to be careful at the beginning, since buffering his PK would be different with one of them in the astral plane." Both Naru and Lin were shocked, for so long they've thought that without Gene by his side controlling his abilities would be impossible but now they were given a way to lessen the strain on Naru.
Kasumi smiled at Naru, "I'm not forcing you to decide now if you want your link to be fixed, I'm just giving you an option." Seeing Naru about to speak, Kasumi raised her hand, "Just wait a while before giving an answer, there is still the matter of you having a triad bond with Mai and Gene."
"Ehh! What do you mean by a triad bond Kasumi-baa? Mai reacted from hearing Kasumi.
Naru adding, "I would like to know as well. As I remember you said something about that a while ago."
Kasumi nodded, "Yes, I did say that, I was confused at first on why you and Mai have a link to each other as well as a link to another. Finding out about Gene helped, I've already explained your connection with him. Mai's connection with Gene on the other hand is due to him being her spirit guide, though it is complete it is quite unstable."
Kazuki cutting his sister off, "Did you just say it is unstable?"
"Yes, I guess we finally found out why Mai had a seizure, links with spirit guides would normally settle from the very beginning but for Mai and Gene's case it is not. Why that is? I do not know. It could be because of his link to Naru damage, Mai and Naru's link is blocked or something else. But if her link with Gene gets fixed, it would prevent him from being forced out of Mai's astral plane." Kasumi explained, with a grimace. Kazuki had his brow furrowed in thought at what his sister just said.
Naru and Mai had a questioning looked directed at Kasumi. Noticing this she gave them a small smile, "As you've heard the both of you have a blocked link, though what caused it is unknown as well. It could be due to outside interference or it could be due to something personal." When Kasumi said that both Naru and Mai averted their eyes from her. Kasumi arch her eyebrow and sighed inwardly, having senses that there was really more to the story with the both of them. But they were going to be stubborn, unless she manages to corner her niece which would be unlikely until they finish the case.
"Well I can remove the block as well and fix your links with Gene, but as I said it's up to you. Though fixing your links with Gene is top priority, your link with each other can be handle by the both of you. So you think about what you want to do." Kasumi informed the two, not bothering to force them to speak up.
Turning to the rest of SPR, she asked, "Would you guys want to know about your link as well? I was quite amazed a while back how your chants synchronized well with each other."
They all just looked at Kasumi gob smacked. Bou-san reacting, "Wait, we also have a link."
Kasumi looked at them in amusement, "Quite, and its one of the best psychic links I've seen. Each of you on your team have a sort of link with each other. John-san, Ayako-san and Bou-san, you three could do an exorcism without overpowering each other." The three looked at each other.
Lin who was listening in commented, "It's true, I've met a lot of spiritualist and I would say that rather than having three different chants, you three together usually are in unison." The other members agreeing, with some input from Hajime.
Kasumi grinned then continued to explain that aside from their link with every member they had smaller links as well. An example would be Masako and Mai having a link, which was confirmed by the latter about sharing the same vision, Ayako's link with tree spirits and lastly Ayako and Bou-san.
Hearing that the two exclaimed, "What!"
Ayako pointing at Bou-san, "How the hell do I have a link with that stupid monk?"
"Like I want to have a link with you, you old hag!" Bou-san countered. This set the two off and started there usual banter.
Mai sighed, "Did you really have to do that, Kasumi-baa?" Kasumi just looked at her niece innocently.
"Kasumi-san." Naru called. Kasumi turning towards Naru, "I've decided to have my link with Gene fixed, I'm not going to let this opportunity pass."
"Hmm, alright then." Kasumi answered turning to her niece, "What about you Mai?"
Mai had a deer in the headlights look, "Ah, I would like to fix the link to Gene as well."
Kasumi hummed, "So the link with Gene would be fixed, what about you blocked links?" She asked the two.
Naru and Mai turned to each other and seemingly conversed without words, which Kasumi added to her list of things to grill Mai on. They turned back to Kasumi with Naru speaking, "We've made a decision though I wish to confirm if it would cause any problems at the moment if we left it blocked?"
Kasumi shook her head, "If it would cause problems remains to be seen, not removing the block which I presume is your decision, would deprive the both of you additional stability with your abilities. Removing the block would also open up another can of worms, with you having to get used to the link having different skills set."
Kasumi paused in thought, "Well if you ask me, I'd rather have the both of you remove the block on your own. So I guess that answers that. We'll leave your link for now and just fix the links to Gene." Both Mai and Naru nodded at Kasumi in understanding.
"Kasumi-san, by any chance is Naru and Mai-san's link due to Gene having a link between the both of them." Naru and Mai curious as well.
Kasumi answered, "Not quite, it would actually be the other way around. You could say that Mai and Naru's link is the cause while the link between Mai and Gene is an effect." But before they could comment on it, "Oh! I just remembered, Kazuki could also train Naru with his PK." Kasumi exclaimed.
Naru saying that they've done enough for him with his link to Gene, asking for training would seem a bit too much. Hitomi, who had been with Miyako trying to help her get used to her abilities, spoke and said, "the Amamiya Clan cater to the needs of its own, this include those we consider our precious people. SPR is important to Mai so it is only right for us to help you in your time of need."
The members of SPR were shocked, they all felt honored that the Amamiya Clan would do great lengths for them. Hajime seeing there looks chuckled, "Just because we are back in Mai's life doesn't mean we would prevent her from joining you guys. Bonds are precious to us, we do not just break the bonds created with other people."
Kasumi grinning at them, "You guys are also forgetting that Mai has psychic link with each of you. Creating psychic links with just anybody is close to impossible. Links like yours are hard to come by."
They were all quiet when Mai tensed, then exclaimed, "Oh! Naru I had a dream." Turning to her boss she relayed the dream she had, she ended up telling them that the entity that attacked her was the same as before.
Naru was in his thinking pose, he then immediately turned to Lin and informed him about what Gene said regarding a dream eater.
Lin turned to Naru with a grim look, "Are you sure that it was what Gene said?" Naru nodded and answered, "Yes, I'm quite sure that, that was what Gene said despite our connection wavering."
"Lin-san, what exactly are dream eaters, I know that soul eaters were mentioned before but what exactly are they?" Bou-san asked the man.
Lin answering, "Soul eaters and dream eaters are actually one and the same. The names are just variations used to call Night Shades."
John asking, "Aren't Night Shades a type of demon who festers in death? I've heard of them from a colleague of mine that they're at time consider as Death Gods."
Lin nodded, "Yes, that is exactly what they are in a sense, Night Shades are usually summoned to be harbingers of death. Though the problem doesn't lie on what they are but rather the ritual used." He then turned to Mai, asking the girl, "Do you think you could remember any of the books, herbs, chant, symbols and other things related to the ritual?"
"I might be able to remember them." Mai answered. She then closed her eyes to concentrate in remembering the things Lin asked of her. When she opened her eyes, they were glazed instead of her normal bright cinnamon eyes. She then started muttering about a pen and paper, Naru handing her his notebook and pen. Once the items were in her hands, she began to write the list of books and herbs, drawing a diagram of the ritual circle as well as other symbols. Lastly, she wrote the chant used by Takumi, which were written in strange symbols.
The others were shocked in seeing Mai in this kind of state. As Mai finished her eyes lost the glaze and slowly returned to her normal cinnamon orbs. Mai blinked herself out of her daze and looked down to see Naru's notebook in her hands, where notes were written which seemed to be in her hand writing. "Ehh! What's going on?" Mai exclaimed, without any recollection of what she had done from the time Lin asked her a about the specifics of the ritual.
Naru gently took his notebook from Mai and handing it to Lin to go over. "What just happened? This is the first time I've seen Mai go into a trance while awake." Ayako commented.
The girl in question still confused as well. "Mai's abilities are starting to manifest, this abilities are already a part of her but were just unsealed." Hitomi explained, the others turning to her.
She then added, "It would be best if I helped Mai with her 12 Shiki, as of the moment they are the only ones who could enter into Mai's astral plane." She then turned to Kasumi, "You might as well fix Mai and Shibuya-san's link to Gene, fixing that link would be very helpful. Gene is Mai's connection in the astral plane, at the same Gene has a connection to the physical world through his living twin." Kasumi nodded to her mother.
Naru, on the other hand didn't protest Hitomi taking over the reigns currently, knowing quite well that what she is saying is a matter of importance. Naru then headed to Bou-san, asking him to take care of things as Lin was busy going over the ritual. Bou-san grinning and said, "Sure, don't worry Naru-bou, I'll handle things from here."
Hitomi then looked at Hajime, " I will leave everything to you for the mean time. Help with the ritual, two heads are better than one." Hajime nodded and went to Lin to see what he could do. Hitomi asked Miyako for a place to meditate, she then motioned for the three to follow; they were then led to the sun room of the house. Hitomi approving of the place and thanking Miyako, who excused herself and returned to base to see what she could assist in.
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While the other five were gone, those left in base gathered to go over the notes Mai had written. Lin commenting, "The ritual seems familiar to me but there are some parts that aren't clear. I'll have to make some call to be sure. Any errors in a part if this ritual would set us back, time is of the essence and we need to find the counter for the ritual while Fujiwara Takumi is regaining his strength." Everyone had a serious look on their faces. They already found the clues, all they need to do now is to piece those together to make a concrete plan. Activity began in a flurry with everyone contributing their strengths.
Kazuki stood up and said, "I'll do a walkthrough of the house again and strengthen the wards. This time is crucial, we can't let our guards down." He then turned to Miyako who just entered the base. "Miyako-san, would you mind doing a dowsing of Takumi and see if he is planning anything of sorts."
Miyako's eyes widened just a bit, a little startled at the request, she smiled, "Of course, I'll go and get my things and start. You guys just leave watching Takumi to me." She and Kazuki then left the room, with the others gob smacked.
Hajime chuckled noticing there reactions, "As you guys already heard, Miyako is quite powerful in her own rights. Her specialty is actually dowsing." His comment snapped the others out and had them focusing on the matter at hand. Hajime then said, "I'll make some calls as well to some family members and associates to see if they know something."
"I recognize some of the books, particularly the two books in Latin, whose titles are roughly translated to Soul for Power and Book of Eternal Life. The old English text, Book of Evil: Dark Summoning, is familiar as well. Those books have been banned by the Church because of their dark contents. They talk about the evilest of deeds some of which includes human sacrifices and contracting with the devil." John commented with a grimace.
Yasuhara commented, "So that leaves us with three books unknown. I guess I'll have to research on them." He then fixed his eyeglasses a little hesitant to do so, after what there resident Priest just said.
Lin saying, "Not quite, the two Ancient Chinese texts titles are Curse of the Unborn and Poison Ivy: Flower of Immortality. The first holds the ritual used on the sleeper agents and the other is more on herb lore connected to dark magic. The last book is the only thing unknown, but I ask you to be careful Yasuhara-san in your search. The context of the books are not something one should read, just look for the title and brief summary. If you cannot stomach it then stop, do not force yourself." The tall man warned Yasuhara. Yasuhara nodded and said, "I understand, I'll be careful and bid your warning Lin-san."
Ayako who was currently looking at the list of herbs, "I'm not liking what I'm seeing, some of the plants in here are either poisonous or used in potions, black magic or witchcraft. Amaranth, barberry, belladonna, black thorn, blood root, elder bush, hemlock, poison ivy, snakeweed and so on. Some of them I know are connected to legends with a hint of witches, curses, love potions and the like. My knowledge is lacking at best, I was only taught some of them by tree spirits, saying that I need to know what these plants are in order to find a counter." She looked up and Bou-san was looking strangely, "What? Why are you looking at me like that?" She demanded while glaring at the monk.
Lin not wanting things to escalate, "Matsuzaki-san, would you and Hara-san look for a potion or anything that would make use of this plants together." Masako, who wasn't really looking forward to a fight between the miko and monk, stood up and dragged Ayako off to the side informing Lin that they would start searching. Ayako's anger was extinguished and replaced by shock, not expecting Masako dragging her.
Hajime then returned, finished with his call, "So, what did I miss?" He asked as his line followed the young medium manhandling her colleague. Lin informed him what they've found so far. With that, Lin, Hajime and Bou-san began to go over the ritual circle, symbols and chant. They were stuck a bit on the chant not knowing what language it was. John volunteered to watch over the monitors so that Lin could focus on the ritual. As of the mean time there was no activity.
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Hitomi was instructing Mai on how to meditate, while Kasumi, with Naru, was off to the side of the room fixing Naru's link with Gene. Mai found it hard to meditate and was fidgeting so much, it took her a whole fifteen minutes before she managed to center herself and meditate. Hitomi sighed when she saw that Mai was finally in a meditative state, she didn't know how long it would have taken Mai if she had no prior experience in meditation. Hitomi removed those thoughts from her mind and instructed Mai to reconnect with the 12 Guardian Shiki or also known as the 12 Great Kirin.
Mai had to concentrate because the last time she met the 12 Kirin, she was but a child and their contract was with her father despite them playing and protecting her. Now that she was old enough and the amulet passed to her, she must prove herself to the Kirins that she was worthy of entering into a contract with them.
When she opened her eyes, the amulet began to glow, she began to call each of the Kirin's names and with them appearing as an orb of light when called. "Keiki, Enki, Taiki, Renrin, Hanrin, Sairin, Kourin, Hourin, Sourin, Ryuuki." and lastly, "Shunki."
When all 12 of them have appeared, they began to circle around Mai creating a slight wind and with disembodied voices said, "We the 12 Great Kirins, accept you Taniyama Mai as our contractor and let it be done."
As soon as they said that, each of the orbs floated back to the amulet with the exception of one. Mai's mind noted that it was Kourin, the same one she made a bond with as a child. Kourin, changed into her human form, kissed Mai on the forehead, "It has been a long time little one, we have waited for the day that we would be reunited with you. Call our names when you are in need and we shall appear." Then soon vanished into the amulet, which ceased to glow. Mai sent back in her mind a thanks which was returned with a welcome.
Mai blinked and her senses started to return back to her and she started to become aware of her surroundings. When she looked up, she saw Hitomi, Kasumi and Naru watching her.
"Eh! Kasumi-baa. Naru. When did you guys finished?" Mai asked the two in confusion.
Kasumi sent Mai a teasing grin, "Well it only took me a few minutes to fix the link, shorter than the time it took you entering a meditative state." Mai pouted at her aunt's teasing but blushed when she noticed Naru's amused smirk.
Kasumi shook her head at Mai, she then gained their attention, "On a side note, there is no need to fix the link between Mai and Gene. The instability is due to Naru's and Gene's broken link. It was easy to fix the link between brothers once I've checked the link closely. At first I thought it was because of Gene's death but I was mistaken, it was only because Gene tried to contact Naru as if though they were both in the physical world and didn't take into account that his in the astral plane." Gaining an arched eyebrow from Naru and Mai with a confused look.
"You could liken it to an international call, you need to take into consideration what service provider there is in that country. An example would be an international call from Japan going to England. Gene tried calling Naru the same way as if they were both in England, not taking into account the difference in Japan." Kasumi expounded.
Before either Mai or Naru could comment they both heard Gene, "Hey Naru! Hey Mai!" Which had Naru narrowing his eyes and Mai squeaked having been startled.
"Eh! Wh-..., Ehhh! Why could I hear Gene?" Mai exclaimed.
Kasumi giggling at her niece's reaction, "Now that your link has been fixed, you could now communicate with Gene. Though at this point Gene could communicate with the both of you at the same time, you two can only speak to Gene. Once the block on your link is removed, the two of you will have the same telepathic link and it is also possible that you can have a three-way conversation."
They couldn't respond to Kasumi because Gene was talking to them in the background, "Isn't this great Naru, Mai, it would be so easy to talk with each other. You should have..." Gene continued to speak not giving Naru or Mai a chance to interrupt him.
At first, Mai sweat dropped at Gene's talkativeness and Naru was pinching the bridge of his nose. A few minutes passes and Gene with his non-stop chattering, both Mai and Naru had a tick pulsing on their temples.
Naru began to glare at his reflection hoping that it was Gene, while Mai looked at her aunt. "Kasumi-baa, please make him stop." Mai pleaded at her aunt, with tears of frustration starting to appear.
Kasumi blinked at Mai's request not knowing what it was about at first but seeing Naru glare at his reflection it clicked, "Ah, hehe, you could block him out temporarily, just find your link to him and think of placing a door. This would also give you privacy so that errant thoughts would not escape and accidentally relay it through the bond."
Both Mai and Naru did what Kasumi said, creating a door of sort to tune Gene out and have their privacy. Kasumi also warned them that they be careful and place a filter through the door that would allow anything important they have to say to get through the link.
Hitomi just watched in amusement at the sides. She went out a bit to speak to Kazuki as he passed by checking the wards while Kasumi explained to the two about their links.
When she saw that Naru and Mai were finished with what they were doing, she called out to her granddaughter. Mai went to stand in front of her grandmother.
Hitomi then asked the girl, "Mai, do you know any warding spells?"
Mai answered, "Yes, I know some warding spells, though they're only the ones Ayako and Bou-san taught me."
Hitomi nodded, she turned to Kasumi and told her to teach Naru a basic warding spell. Naru saying that he wasn't a spiritualist like the others. "Not to worry, what I'm going to teach you can be used by both spiritualist and non. Which reminds me, I'll have to teach Yasuhara-kun as well. He's the most vulnerable member of the team with not being a spiritualist nor having psychic abilities."
Naru informing Kasumi that they also have another non-spiritualist member coming in tomorrow.
"Oh yeah, why didn't Madoka-san come with us anyway?" Mai asked Naru. He answered back that his parents wanted Madoka to check something for them.
With that Hitomi and Kasumi began teaching the two some warding spells. Mai commenting, "Woah! I feel much better using this than the ones Ayako and Bou-san taught me." Hitomi explaining that it was normal since what she learned from the two were quite different from the Amamiya style. Though she could still use those warding spells but to tweak it a little and incorporate the Amamiya style. As Mai was learning the warding spells, she began to remember as well the purification songs, dances and other things that her mother taught her.
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A/N: I hope you guys liked this chapter.
Please Review!