DarkTaoAngel: New chapter, yay! Only sixteen more to go and it sounds worse when you actually say it…. Anyway, I hope you R&R because it makes me type faster, and let me know how you feel about my stories in said reviews!
The next day was spent plotting and planning in Pirika's case, as she wondered how she would get Anna's beads, and even how to use them. She had a vague idea, so she built off of that, and she figured that she would have to take them when Anna was sleeping. Easier said than done, though, she either wore them to bed, or put them in an undetected place for safekeeping. Pirika thought it over and she soon enough came up with a way to find them.
As the hours went by that day, the rest of the inhabitants at the Inn went slowly to sleep, including Anna, whom had set her beads on a dresser next to her bed, easy enough for Pirika, so she snatched them up without another word before she herself was to go to sleep. She did not go to bed however; she had far more important things to do, and little time in which to do them in.
She scurried out of the house, careful not to disturb any of the people who were sleeping inside as she stepped out, and walked along in the cold, dark and silent night. She came across no sign of life, so she could walk more briskly in order to get to the place she intended to go. There was no specific address, but there could not be people in the vicinity, so she had to search for the appropriately secluded terrain.
She walked along the deserted roads, cold but not bothered by the weather, until the time she found the place she was looking for. It took the duration of a few hours, but she finally came across a perfectly still place, in the midst of a forest, surrounded by thick, bushy trees which covered much of the sky overhead.
It took her a while to fully learn how to use Anna's itako beads, teaching herself slowly into the night, but she had a lot of time to learn, so she was in absolutely no hurry. She took all of the time she needed, and she seemed to need a lot of it, so it took a few hours before she learned how to use Anna's beads without chanting an incantation, because she did not know any.
When the motions of the spell had been fully achieved by Pirika, she was finally ready for the task ahead. There was only one way to bring Ren back, and she would do anything, even this one thing, to see him again. Even if it was only for a day, even an hour, she was getting desperate and she was completely prepared to do whatever it took.
When time came at last, which was around three hours after Pirika had begun, she had finally found the right motions. She had tried it quite a few times, and was completely confident that it would all work in her favor. Though what she was doing was extremely dangerous, she did not once stop to think about the after effects of this task.
She had come thus far, and everything had worked, so she proceeded as planed, fitting each piece of the whole picture carefully, so as not to make a mistake. When the time was right, she set off to work, making sure that no one was around to stop her.
She did as was planned, checking one last time that there were no people around, and took out the itako beads. She raised them sharply above her head, careful to be precise with her swaying of the glass beads, and making sure not to drop them, as they were wet with the perspiration that came with her hard work.
She turned and swung the beads thusly, coming to a halt she chanted the itako prayer that Anna had taught her so very long ago, which she had heard so often that she had memorized it all.
"One I place for my father, two I place for my mother, three I place for my brothers back home. Here I offer my flesh to aid your soul's release…." She was not quite sure if this was the exact phrase, or even if she was able to say it. Maybe only Anna could use this chant, but she had to be sure before she just gave up. It must have been working, though, because she went into a kind of trance upon saying the last part of the chant. She knew what was going on in the real world, but she could also communicate directly with the spirit world as well, and find any spirit that has even been called to heaven.
She knew the next step almost before she had time to rack her brain for the memory of what Anna had said to her. This Pirika knew she could do, and she could do it even if she did not have Anna's help. All she had left was to call on the spirit with which she needed, and she knew exactly who she needed. She would call Ren if she could, but she did not know how, because he had died a very strange death. She did not know where he was now, or how to summon him, he might not have even moved on now. His spirit had probably been sealed away by Hao when he had died, so she needed to unlock it. The person she needed would bring him back, no matter what if she gave him what he wanted. She would if she had to, and she was ready to do what it would take. She took a deep breath, prepared to call on the one no one would expect her to.
"I call on the spirit of Hao Asakura!"
DarkTaoAngel: I came up with this chapter a long time ago, and decided that Ren's spirit got locked away, but I will not tell you where! What this means is that it is in a place where even the most experienced itako can not reach. If you have any questions, please ask in a review!