Note to Everyone!: This Chapter is more of an introduction to what Aira and Gina are like around their coven.

Flame of the Guardians Soul
Chapter Six
A Witches Chant

Shiina sat on a tree branch at the park where Pumpkin had said he would meet him once they had gotten here. It was pretty late at night, and Shiina didn't know if Aira's parents kept the cats in or threw them out for the night. Finally after what felt like ages Shiina saw a streak of orange fur and next thing he knew Pumpkin was next to him.

Shiina nearly fell off the tree because the cat was there so quickly, "Jesus Glacier!" He had practically yelled.

The cat chuckled, "Sorry Shiina, I didn't expect to scare you, or to be so late."

"Why are you so late anyways?" He asked.

"Aira and Gina have a few of their witch friends over. They are doing a few rituals."

"Like a Coven?" He asked, a note of surprise and fear in his voice.

"Kinda," Glacier began, "Aira prefers to remain a Solitary Witch but she does work with other witches from time to time."

"You where watching them?"

He nodded, "But only until Simba showed up, then I came here."

"What," Shiina began, "What kind of ritual are they doing..?"

Glacier blinked in surprise, "It's a ritual where a Wiccan becomes a full witch in a coven."

"Wait you just said that Aira was Solitary."

"I said she prefers to be Solitary, I never said she wasn't in a coven." Glacier looked at Shiina and then asked, "Would you like to go back and watch?"

Shiina blinked, "Is it safe?"

Glacier laughed, "Yes it is very safe!"

"Perhaps we should all go?" Shiina and Glacier looked over to see Ranka, Sen-Jui, Nagi, Larva and Ichiro.

"Well alright," Glacier said, "But you must remain quiet. I don't want to break anything that the girls are doing." Then he leapt from the branch and landed gracefully on the ground.

Shiina hopped down and landed on Larva's head. When Larva grunted Shiina quickly said, "Oops. Sorry, I was aiming for your shoulder."

Glacier lead them threw the back allies of the town until they reached a gorge or a canyon like park. They could all smell smoke from a small fire that was glowing from the bottom of the forest. They started the trip down as Glacier warned them, "It's almost a mile down and you must be so quiet no one, not even the animals here, will know you are watching. I'm risking a lot to bring you all here."

"Why is that?" Ranka asked as she slid over a boulder.

"Rituals like these are planned many months in advance, this one was planned five months ago and it is very complex. If any of the coven losses his or her concentration then the rite will have failed and you'll get on to a very bad start with Aira and Gina."

Larva had many things running threw his mind, he decided it was better to ask some questions now and others later, "I once heard witches do this in the nude... these girls aren't are they?"

Glacier looked at him, "They have before yes, but never in a public zone like this. Aira had to get very special permission from the law here to do this." He said as he jumped over a thorn bush.

"What of witches taking each others blood?" Nagi asked as he helped Ichiro over a dead tree.

"No. This coven doesn't do that because in that area of rites, if one witch casts a spell then the whole coven feels the after shock," he leapt into a tree.

"Why did you agree to show us this?" Sen-Jui asked as he picked his way threw the sagebrush.

"Because, I believe that you will need this information to get close to Aira and Gina once Simba and I enroll two of you into their schools." When the others looked at him in surprise he added, "Aira isn't very social with people she doesn't know and it takes a lot to gain her trust. If one of you goes to her school and shows an interest in the craft you'll get closer to her faster."

"What about Gina?" Nagi asked.

"You could move in next door to her and she'd come to meet you. But school is a better plan," he said.

"But who would go to which school?" Sen-Jui asked.

"Oh that's easy," Glacier said, "Ranka you'll be going to school with Aira and Sen-Jui you'll be going to school with Gina."

"What?" They both said in union.

"What? You two are the only ones who can really pass for High School students," then he stopped, "I can hear them now, so no more talking." Everyone fell silent and as they got closer the smell of the smoke from the fire got stronger. Mixed in with the sent of the smoke was the smell of roses, Basil, Witch Hazel, Bay, Dill, Sage, and Willow leafs. It gave out a rich smell, there was also a scent of blood but it was very faint.

As they drew closer music could be heard, beautiful piano music, then laugher and other voices could be heard. The closer they got the more their senses picked up on things, the trees felt different as did the ground. Smell and sound became sharper and more active, they could taste pumpkin pie even from its faint scent. Finally they could see figures of girls and a few boys moving about by the bon fire. All had marks on their bodies from paint, like tattoos, perhaps they showed their rank or specialty in the coven.

Finally Glacier had them stop and he went out to join the coven as the rest of them crouched to the ground and watched them all silently. The members of the coven where dressed in a strange fashion. Some of them wore colors while the majority of them wore white, both with robes. Larva guessed it showed a rank at first but then he remembered something about large covens he had heard from Pasazu. Witches have a color code system with the four basic elements of earth, air, fire and water and that those who had high power over these elements often wore a cloak or other clothing to prove it in major events. What could be more major than welcoming a new member? Magic was a very odd thing to Larva, shinma never used it, and most feared it. If he was going to protect Aira though, he would have to get used to it.

Then the music began to dim as two boys led a young girl with red hair in a gray gown to the fire where she sat on a boulder and seemed to be waiting for something or someone. It was just after she sat down that the music stopped entirely and the coven members gathered around the girl and the fire in a cercal. Their heads turned and the others saw two girls enter the cercal, one with curly brown hair who wore a robe of gold and green, the other with long blond hair who wore a robe of silver and red.

Aira and Gina, Larva thought. For both girls matched the description completely.

The burnet, Gina, presented the young red head with a large golden goblet and said in a calm voice, "This goblet contains great magic from all those who have tasted from it," she handed it to the girl who took it carefully into her hands. "Drink from the goblet and state thine name."

The girl took a sip from the golden goblet and said, nervously, "I am Magen Whiter." Gina then took the goblet back from Magen and now it was Aira's turn.

Aira pulled out a sharp silver dagger and held it up to Megan's chest, "We now know of thine birth name, now give us thine sacred name."

Megan flinched slightly when the dagger touched her chest, "Maiden Moura."

"Maiden Moura, do thou swear on thine life and thine honor to the Goddess that thou shall obey all rules and laws as they have been written by the brothers and sisters whom have come before thee?"

"I swear to obey all laws and rules to honor my kin and the Goddess."

"What doth thou promise to do for thine kin?"

"To provide an ever growing knowledge of the world around us. Never reveal our secrets outside rituals. And to take responsibility for my own acts."

Aira lowered the blade, "Remember the rules and laws well. We all are servants to the Goddess and her God. They can give to us and they can take from us. As say's our most powerful law of three."

Gina stepped forward, "Everyone of you has taken this rite to pass as our kin and kith. Now head these last words well."

Aira and Gina spoke almost as if they where one, "Thou only gets what thou doth earn. Consult with the coven before using magic for anything. Traitors to the coven are dealt with on sight. Lawbreakers shall be banished. And always think of one another as a brother or sister. As we say it so mot it be!"

The coven broke into cheers and a young man with blond-brown hair presented something to Aira and Gina. It was Gina who spoke, "Maiden Moura," she said and then resented her with a pentagram, "This is the sign of thine people. Wear it with pride and fill it with thine magic and desires." She then put the necklace around Megan's neck.

Aira then handed her a dagger, "This is thine anthem, the very one which thou have sworn by blood to obey the laws and help thine kith and kin." Megan took the anthem and bowed her head. Aira smiled then, "Welcome to the Service of the Goddess, Maiden Moura." Magen gave a slight bow with a happy smile on her face.

The coven band then began to play the music again and everyone began to dance. The music was joyful and pure, the tune reminded Larva of something he had heard on a radio one night before the Bird Shinma, Chisato, had tried to kill Miyu. Still he knew he had to stop dwelling on the past, yet as he watched Aira dance with her coven he could see much of Miyu's moves in her. It was all he could do to keep his memories of those last few days he had with her out of his mind.

Ranka had seen many rites performed by covens in Japan, but she had never seen one like this. Normally the covens she had seen always contained members of the same sex only. This was the first she had ever seen with a mix variety, yet she could feel a very weak shinma aura. It was close she knew, but it was far too weak to worry about or even to mentally tell the others. She shrugged it off and went back to watching the girls' dance, the way they all moved, not just Aira and Gina, was all in rhythm of the music. Almost as if it had been made for the music.

Nagi watched Gina with every ounce of attention he had. She didn't look like Yui, but the way that she moved and acted so far, made it more than crystal clear who's incarnate she was. The only problem now was all the memories that where attempting to break threw his concentration and he couldn't let that start up again. They had been able to penetrate his mind on the ship, which has caused his emotions to show badly, he wasn't going to do that now. The others may think him weak. He would just have to wait a little longer, he had waited 16 years, and he could wait a few more days.

Sen-Jui didn't know what to think of the girls or their coven. Yui had been his best friend, when she died he was so miserable. Now that he was here in a completely different country looking at a 16 year-old girl who was the incarnate of his best friend. And tomorrow he would be at the same school as she was, and this was definitely going to be a table-turn.

Ichiro was confused, he had never seen any witch covens in his whole life. He could remember his mother telling him stories of powerful witches but no one in his family had ever seen one. Why Miyu and Yui had chosen to come back as witches was a mystery to him and probably would be until the day he would die. He knew that it would be a while before anything in this place would make sense.

Shiina sat on the boulder that had become his seat and watched the girls and the coven they belonged to with all the attention he could bring up at this time of the night. He hadn't been up this late in 16 years. It was strange and yet not at the same time. As he watched the girls he had been able to see into their heads. Gina was a lot like Yui in mostly every aspect, Nagi would be happy to know he wouldn't have to change much about himself to please her. However, Larva was in for a rude awakening when he would meet Aira for the first time up to her face. Aira was not Miyu from anything Shiina could see.

Tomorrow would be very interesting once Ranka and Sen-Jui met Aira and Gina.