"But it says so here." Usagi said, showing Rei the magazine where the article was written. "May Day Eve." she said the title aloud. "On the eve of the first day of May, at midnight, you could see the man you are going to marry by looking through a mirror and chanting a spell."
"Let me see that." Makoto took the magazine from Usagi's hands. "According to old folklore, all you have to do is look through a mirror on the midnight of May the 1st, ask the mirror to show you the man you're going to marry."
"How romantic!!!" Minako sighed dreamily. "I think I'll try that spell tonight...it's May the first right???"
"Wait...there's more..." Makoto interrupted, her eyes scanning through the article. "But sometimes, the mirror may not show you the man you will marry, and instead...will show you a demon's face!"
"Yikes!" Usagi exclaimed, shaking. "I don't think I'd ever want to do that...I don't want to see demons!"
"Chicken." Rei taunted. "As if you've never seen one...you've run into youmas often enough to last a lifetime."
"Am not a chicken!"
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"I don't think you need to look into the mirror, Usagi." Ami said, trying to pacify the two. "I'm quite sure you already have an idea who you're going to marry."
Usagi blushed, twiddling her index fingers. "Errr....I suppose you're right." Her eyes turning dreamy. "My Mamo-chan...."
"Well I don't think I'm going to try it." Minako said. "I don't want to see a demon...it's too...creepy."
"I'm dying of curiosity." Makoto commented. "I might want to try it...hmmm...if I don't fall asleep before midnight, that is."
"I still think it's a load of rubbish." Rei said. She stood up and headed for the kitchen. "Anyone for snacks?"
"Me! Me!" Usagi volunteered, racing to the kitchen before anyone else could stand up. The rest of the seishi merely sweatdropped.
That night, Rei entered her room to sleep. She had spent most of the evening in front of the Great Fire, meditating. She turned her head from side to side, holding her painful neck. She neglects to notice these little pains when she was deeply ensconced in her meditation and they usually pop up after. Her eyes noted the little alarm clock by her bed. Eleven forty-five. Fifteen minutes to midnight. Everytime she got engaged in her sessions by the fire, she forgot the passage of time. She changed into her pink sleeping gown and prepared to get some shut-eye when she noted the magazine on her tabletop.
The page had been turned to the article Makoto and Usagi had been reading about earlier when the girls were having another get together. May Day Eve had been its title. Rei picked the magazine up, reading the article. It had been as Makoto said, a spell which was done on the midnight of May 1st, using a candle and a mirror. To see either the man of your dreams or a demon.
Ridiculous. Rei thought.
And yet there's a part of her that's telling her to try it.
It's harmless, a voice was telling her. Big deal if you see a demon instead of your dreamboat. And besides, you haven't had a battle with a youma in ages...you could use a little adventure. What's there to lose?
But it's stupid...another part of her was saying. One shouldn't rely on ridiculous spells to find the man of your dreams. It's absurd. Silly.
At twelve o'clock midnight, Rei found herself in front of a full-length mirror in her bedroom, holding a candelabra.
"Mirror...mirror...on the wall...show me the man who will love me...." she recited the spell she had read from the magazine article. She repeated the chant three times.
Rei waited.
Ka-booom!!!
A loud thunderclap boomed overhead, almost jolting Rei from her stand. This was followed by rain that began falling in large drops on the roof of the shrine. Rei stood there, unmoving, waiting for the mirror to show her something...anything. At that time, the rain began to fall heavily, continously, creating sounds of drumming over the rooftops. The breeze that entered through her window was cold and strong, blowing her ebony hair in all directions and killing the flame off the candle she was holding. All the while she stared at the mirror...looking for any sign of a man...or a monster...whichever the mirror chooses to show her.
Funny how the rain suddenly showed up, Rei thought. It wasn't exactly the time of the year to have rain suddenly appear out of nowhere. She distinctly remembered seeing a cloudless night sky a while ago, and there was no lightning preceeding the thunder she had heard. Strange. But then again, she must've been too preoccupied with the spell and had not noticed the lightning that may have gone by, or the clouds that may have gathered in the night sky. She ignored the thought and kept her eyes focused on the mirror, waiting for the results of her spell.
Why is it cold all of a sudden? Tasuki wondered, as he felt a cold breeze brush his cheek, waking him up from his slumber. He got up and rubbed his eyes. A sudden gust of wind caused him to shiver. He grumbled and walked over to the open window. There seemed to have been a sudden downpour, with the rain pounding mercilessly on the roof. That and strong winds accompanying it. Tasuki closed his windows as a loud thunderclap exploded above. He went to his trunk and pulled out a thick blanket. He was about to go back to bed when a flash of lightning illuminated his bedroom.
What was that?
His eyebrows met and he rubbed his eyes again. The lightning flash had lit up his bedroom for all but a millisecond, and something had caught his eye. He walked over to the full-length mirror across the room and stared at it curiously. Just a moment ago, he thought he had seen something wrong...something strange about the mirror...like a reflection of sorts...
Rei was about to give up upon seeing nothing but her own reflection. I knew it wasn't true, she said to herself, berating herself for even believing a fraction of that tall tale. She turned to put the candle away when the ligthning overhead struck and cast a light upon the room.
A figure.
Rei's head snapped back, turning her gaze back to the mirror. At the corner of her eye, she noted something in the mirror...something moving! She took small steps back to it, treading carefully and preparing herself for the vision she was to meet. When she came closer, she saw her own reflection again, but this time, it seemed as if there was another image superimposed on her own. What was it?
Why the @$&% am I wearing a skirt? Tasuki thought as he put his face closer to the mirror which he was staring at now with extreme curiosity. He had seen another reflection other than his own when he came to the mirror. At this point it was cast over his figure and he looked as if he was wearing a dress of sorts.
Obake???
Oni!!!
Rei stepped back upon getting a clearer view of the translucent figure. It was...a man...a tall man, about a full head taller than she was...with flaming hair and fangs!!! Shimatta! The mirror had shown her a demon!!!
No demon is going to scare me, she thought. She immediately drew one of her ofuda scrolls and recited, "Rin, pyou, tou, sha, kai, jin, retsu, sai, zen. Akuryou taisan!"
"What the hell..." Tasuki said as he saw the spirit in the mirror draw an ofuda scroll. His immediate reflexes told him it was going to cast a spell on him and he quickly took out a scroll of his own. "Come out, wolves!" he commanded.
They threw their scrolls simultaneously. And as wolf began to put it's head out through Rei's side of the mirror, she had slapped on it her scroll, and it disappeared in a blink of an eye.
Tasuki was taken aback. "Nani? What is this? My wolf..." The spirit apparently was stronge than he expected. He made a quick dash for his tessen and aimed it at the mirror. "Lekka..."
"Oi, Genrou..." a loud rapping came by the door.
Tasuki turned at the sound of the voice. "Koji?"
The blue-haired bandit entered the door. "Oiya, are you alright? I thought I heard some noise here." His gaze shifted to Tasuki's hand which was holding the tessen and aiming at the mirror. "Eerr...what seems to be the problem?"
"There...." Tasuki motioned towards the reflection. "There's something...somebody in the mirror...a ghost! A witch! I dunno what the &#$@ it is but it's there!" He pulled Koji back as the latter attempted to get a look at the mirror. "Careful! It has powers...it just cancelled out my wolf!"
Koji took a long, good look at Tasuki's point of reference. He then shifted his attention to his best friend. "I don't see anything." One of his eyebrows raised. "You sure you didn't have a little to much sake on you, Gen-chan?"
"IT'S &\%&$# THERE!!!!" he screamed, throwing all caution to the wind and approaching the mirror. He saw nothing but his own reflection. Tasuki searched high and low even behind the looking glass, and there was nothing, nobody to be found.
Koji was shaking his head. "Go to sleep, Gen-chan." he walked away and headed for the door. "Quite a storm, ne? Must be the lightning that's making you see things. 'Night!"
Tasuki was fuming with anger. Not so much with Koji but with that illusion that seemed to have come and go out of nowhere. He once again approached the reflecting glass and stared at it. The figure was no longer there...but wait..it was! Tasuki focused his eyes harder and noted that the figure of whatever-was-there, was still! But it was no longer in front of the mirror. It seemed to have backed away. It was...going to sleep??? He could barely make out the dark figures but it appeared as though it was heading for a bed. It was....
A girl?
A young girl, he realized. Or a ghost of a young girl...he thought. With long, dark hair and sporting a long, wide gown.
Rei, after casting out the demon, decided to go to bed. The demon had seemingly disappeared after she slapped it with her scroll. But she was still cautious that it might come back. She only moved to her bed so it may not be able to reach her immediately in case it comes out. Sitting there, she was almost relieved that it had gone. But now, she noticed it was beginning to appear again. Rei was about to transform into Sailor Mars when she thought otherwise.
What if it's not a demon, she thought. What if it was some lost soul looking for help? What if it was some cursed spirit seeking for assistance? But then his hair was aflame and his teeth...then again, looks can be decieving.
If only I can ask the Great Fire now...
Rei closed her eyes, concentrating. She felt no evil presence coming from the mirror. She opened them and looked at the mirror once more. Nothing. Rei knew the extent of her powers of perception. If this spirit had been evil, she would have felt an impending sense of doom at once. Immediately. Either her senses were right or some strange power was blunting it. She decided to face the spirit head on.
Tasuki's brows met as he saw the figure approaching him. Should he attack? He kept his tessen in check, holding it firmly and preparing to defend himself in case she does do something. On closer view, she looked relatively harmless. She was petite, barely reaching up to his shoulder. Her long hair, ebony black with purple highlights, extended down to her waist. He could see her eyes, wide, violet and fringed with long black lashes. Much as he hated to admit it, he thought she was rather....er....nice looking...
Rei squinted, trying to focus on the image opposite her. He was tall, broad-shouldered and well-built. His hair was still aflame. It was red...no...blonde red...or...it reminded her of a burning flame. His eyes were slanted, in a hue of gold, and his teeth...they looked a lot like fangs. Weren't they? Rei was suddenly reminded of a wolf. Yes, that's what he looked like, a red-maned wolf.
Rei raised her right hand and reached out towards the mirror, seeing if she could touch the spirit within. At the same time, Tasuki outreached as well and when their fingers touched, they quickly pulled it back.
Holy Suzaku, Tasuki muttered. I can touch it! Or her...or whatever it was behind the mirror!
Rei's thoughts echoed the same sentiment.
"Rei! Rei!" a loud knock came at Rei's door. It was her grandfather. "I heard noise in there. Are you alright?" he called.
Her gaze was suddenly drawn to the door. "Yes Grandpa, I'm fine." she said. When he bid her good night and assumingly walked away, Rei turned back to the mirror.
He was gone.
*******
The following morning, Rei went to school with thoughts of the flame-haired spirit in her head.
Who could he be? she thought. What could he be? At first she had thought of him as some kind of youko. With hair and teeth like that. But then, the fact that she couldn't feel any evil in his presence told her otherwise. And what was he doing there?
All of a sudden, Rei remembered why she was in front of the mirror that time...
Could it be?
For if he was no demon...he'd be...
Rei blushed to the roots of her hair.
No way!
It wasn't possible.
Was it?
"Blushing so early in the day?" Usagi elbowed Rei as she came from the side. "Ooooo...who did we see to have the blush of apparent affection?"she teased.
"None of your business, Usagi." snarled Rei, trying to hide her red cheeks.
"Hi girls!" an arriving Makoto called as she caught up with them. "Hey Rei-chan, did you try the spell we saw in the magazine last night?"
"Ofcurse not! Why should I? It's ridiculous." she said defensively.
"Geez, I was only asking...." Makoto dismissed with a wave of her hand. "I wanted tot ry it, but I fell asleep watching reruns of Mission Impossible...too bad." she shrugged her shoulders. "Guess I'll have to wait next year to find the man of my dreams...."
The man of her dreams....Rei thought...could he be?
But where would they meet, if indeed he was...how would they meet?
The first thing Rei did when she got home that afternoon was to proceed to the Great Fire. Donning her priestess robes, Rei sat in front of the fire place and began her ceremony. She closed her eyes, concentrating. Thinking. She positioned her hands in a prayerful pose and began chanting.
Great Fire...telll me of this entity...who he is...what he is...and does he bear good news or a bad omen?
The blaze in the fireplace erupted, surrounding Rei in a ring of fire. And images began showing themselves in Rei's head. Him. The flame-haired one. Donned in a black coat and leading a group of....bandits?She wans't sure though they seemed to look like that. He was wielding an iron fan...shooting flames out of it. And then...he disappeared. There was all blackness again. It stayed that way for a few minutes until a new image apeared . One of a girl. A pretty young girl with long brown hair who wore a uniform. Rei recognized it to be one of the junior high schools around their area. Then there were people...seven of them including the flame-haired one. A handsome young man with the sign of an ogre on his forehead. A pretty lavender-haired woman. A beautiful emperor. A blue-haired monk with a scar. A child. A man with a kitten on his shoulder. Then there was a bird...the fire bird. The Phoenix, surrounding the eight of them with flames. Then the image faded slowly. A new one taking its place. This time it was a man...a very ugly one. He was large, fat, with slits for eyes and sporting a horned headgear. Something told her his name was....Genki? Zenki? Rei wasn't so sure. He was laughing...deviously, triumphantly, loudly...and he had his foot on top of a prone, fallen, bloodied body....which on clear view showed the flame-haired bandit....dead.
Rei opened her eyes suddenly. A film of sweat covered her forehead and she was breathing heavily. As if awakening from a nightmare. Good heavens...what was that all about? she thought. How frightening. She looked around and saw her two ravens, Phobos and Deimos staring bewilderedly at her. Rei turned back to the fire place and wondered.
Could the vision she had noticed last night be that of a spirit? A spirit asking for help because he had been wronged? By the ugly man in the horned helmet? Perhaps. Perhaps he was a soul asking for her assistance so he may get justice for his death? And may be the spell she had recited brought him out somehow, through the mirror.
So he wasn't the man for her after all. He wasn't the man of her dreams. He was a lost soul seeking for help. It was only by chance that he had appeared on her reflecting glass on that night of May.
How selfish can you get, Rei? she berated herself. Thinking of your dream boat when here is a spirit who needs your help? Forget about your romantic illusions and do something!
She approached the mirror once more. But how can I get to him? She asked herself as she touched the glass. How can I help him?
A flash of lightning.
A loud thunderclap.
And Rei disappeared.