Bittersweet chapter 31

Hi guys! Tomorrow we should be going back to our usual scedule, so Bittersweet wont take too long to finish.

I spent way too much translating the spell. I hope you appreciate it guys!

Ayumi had everything prepared, laid out in a circle on the chestnut coloured floor boards of Yoshiki's flat floor. Ayumi had triple checked every item needed for the ritual that had been stated in Ai's battered book, making sure that she had exactly the right items, since she really didn't want to mess this one up. What would be the consequence if the got it wrong; would their fate be similar to the one which they received when they failed Sachiko's Charm? Would they die? It could be possible, for the two curses, Heavenly Host and the Shinozaki bloodlines curse were definitely connected. Shaking her head, she called Yoshiki from the kitchen, not wanting to imagine any of the possible worse-case scenarios. Yoshiki entered, a careless look on his face but he was raking his hand through his bleach blonde hair with nervousness. Last time he had participated in a spiritual ritual...Well it certainly didn't go as planned! Ayumi was crouched on her knees, turning over the various notes and photos, as well as staring at numerous spiritual items she had snagged secretly from Hinoe's room. Yoshiki abrubtly came to join her, grinning reassuringly at her. If she was going to be anxious, she might make a slip somewhere and regret it for the rest of her life, so he decided to try and look confident for his girlfriends sake.

"Have you got everything?" he asked softly, leaning over her shoulders.

"I think so," she replied with a wobbly tone. "Evidence - here,s the photo Hinoe had of Sachiko's late father. My family tree including some of the origins. Purifying Sufler powder, and some more spiritual items that are listed."

"Anything else, or just we just go ahead?"

"There is to be silence and we must do it in candle light..."

Ayumi walked over to the outstretched windows and pulled each one shut tight, blocking off all the noises from the busy streets below. The dreary silence made the sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach glow, increasing her anxitiey even more. Yoshiki pulled out Ayumi's well stocked candle supply from a drawer, lighting two with a single match and flicking the power off. They met back at the circle of items whilst Yoshiki lay down the candles, orange light bouncing off his face. Ayumi took a sharp breath and tilted her chin towards Yoshiki, smiling breifly.

"All you have to do," she whispered to him. "Is repeat the words I say."

"Gotcha Ayumi."

They took one last breath together before she placed Ai's book in the middle of the ring, opened on the specific page about her type of curse. Instantly the items glowed and eerie blue and a harsh gush of cold surrounded the room. Ayumi placed her icy hands on the inbook, Yoshiki copying her, and started to read out some mysterious words in many languages. Yoshiki did find it strange, but it might of had something to do with the book of shadows, and how they were written in many languages.

"Libérer les esprits," She chanted quietly, glancing at Yoshiki who repeated like he was her echo in a tunnel. "den Fluch brechen..."

Ayumi dug in her mind for the words. They had been in French, German, Spanish, English and lastly Japanese. She had spent hours memorising them.

"de la familia Shinozaki, So we can live with our love, mada takuto-nai!"

After Yoshiki had echoed the last few lines, the bright blue light burned red, and the evidence and photos started to glow a fiery orange. Wincing at the too-bright light, Yoshiki turned his face away but Ayumi jerked it back. She gave him a pleading look as she remembered it was important to make sure he directed all his thoughts on breaking the curse. The spirits needed to sense of will in tact. Suddenly, Ayumi felt a piercing pain through her head; it was splitting and throbbing terribly. She gasped, and despite Yoshiki having felt the same sensation, he just grit his teeth and tried to bare the bizarre pain.

"Seij Shinozaki...Yoshie Shinozaki...Sachiko Shinozaki..." she rasped, watching in shock as the photo caught on fire. 'Ugh...Ayato Shinozaki, Asuka Shinozaki, Hinoe and Ayumi Shinozaki..."

Something else caught on fire. Startledl Yoshiki tried to put it out but Ayumi whacked his hand away forcefully and violently shook her head. She was biting her lip in nervousness, but didn't want Yoshiki to interfere with the whole thing.

"Break the curse!"

The candles went out; and the room was sucked up into complete, pitch black darkness. Ayumi screamed helplessly and Yoshiki cried out in shock as their heads started spinning again. Ayumi fumbled in the dark for his hand and once he had found it, grasped it tightly. His palms were sweaty and warm, not giving her much reassurence on the whole situation. It was because he had absolutely no clue on what was happening to them. Had they miserably failed the curse? Was the caster angry? Ayumi didn't seem to know either, so he shut his mouth so no questions would come out and distress her even more. They felt panic rising now, however suddenly a bright stripe of yellow light flashed by in milliseconds, leaving a yellow glow in her vision even when they closed their eyes. Then, Ayumi heard a mysterious yet mocking voice call out to her.

"Are you sure he is the right one, Daughter of Shinozaki?" it called, it's harsh, questioning tone, making a shiver run down Ayumi's spine. "Yoshiki Kishinuma? A rebel, a delinquent excuse for a boy?"

"I'm sure!" she retorted firmly, making Yoshiki smile even just a little bit.

"What a shame. The last few generations have been far to careless on their adoption choices!"

"Adoption Choices?" Repeated Yoshiki, but both his girlfriend and the spirit ignored him still.

"I don't care about the past; the future is now!"

"Ignorant child! Do you know how many people I have seen fail this ritual?"

Ayumi shrank back, wondering how many generations had tried to break the curse to save the future generations. Look where that got them!

"Yoshiki is the one for me! Who are you anyway?"

"I was the first witch. The first to be gifted, spirit involved whatever. I lived in France in the middle ages. I created a spell to make me live longer, so I taught my gifted relations and wrote the book of shadows." The spirit explained. "Makes sense now, Shinozaki?"

"A lot actually," Ayumi replied, her fingers still entwined with Yoshiki's. "Did we break it or not?"

"That it's the one question..." the spirit mused in a hollow voice. "It will depend on your thoughts and oppinions."

"Go ahead!" She shouted into the empty air. "I'm not giving up on this now!"

"The name Mikuni..." she said, making both Ayumi and Yoshiki flinch. "What does it mean to you, child?"

"Uh, Ai Mikuni gave me this book," she replied, pointing at the cover although she didn't know where the spirit was. "she's gifted with the spirits...and she's got a daughter and a brother."

"Why?" Repeated the spirit sarcastically with a snarl. "You haven't done your history on me, have you now?"

"We didn't exactly know we were going to meet you!" Butted in Yoshiki.

"Silence boy. I suppose I'll have to tell you the whole story then...

One day, there were three sisters that were visited by death and given magical black powers. Each sister was given the talents to cast, remove and sense spells as well as sense spirits too. In addition, they had a talent of their own which they took pride on and all thought theirs was the best. Unfortunately when arguing on who would be the best to teach the next few generations of the gifted, they fell out and took different paths of fate. They all got married and had children, teaching them the arts of the spirits. They formed the three gifted families: Saenoki, Mikuni and Shinozaki. The Saenoki bloodline became quite rare and no one really rememberEd them. Of course you find the odd gifte. Saenoki, but they are lacking. The Mikuni bloodline however, became less pure after letting their children choose who they married. The gifted are more frequent then in the Saenoki line. The Shinozaki bloodline on the other hand, led by the eldest sister stayed strict and pure, with every female being gifted and their approved boyfriends being adopted into the family line. However the three sisters did not realise what their split of fates had done to their families. The Saenoki bloodline had a frequency of possesion, even in the non-spirit world. For the Mikuni's, evey other husband and child dies, unless the mother is not gifted. And I think you know the Shinozaki curse as well."

Ayumi took it it, breathless. That was the truth! Did Hinoe know about this? Suddenly realisation dawned on her...'...I was the first to be gifted' 'The eldest was Shinozaki...'

"You were the eldest sister!" She declared, surprising Yoshiki. "You've come back to stop everyone from breaking the curse! Why?"

"Although I was the eldest sister, I got jealous, vengeful and felt awful hatred towards my sisters, whom I blamed for the starts of the curse."

"go on!"

"I held my grudge, saying that I just wanted it to be a reminder of their undoing..."

"your lying!" Ayumi snapped. "You wanted to break it, but without the power from your sisters, you weren't good enough; you needed their help!"

"Be Qu-"

"No! Your just to stubborn to swallow your pride, and you don't want anyone breaking the curse and taking all the credit!"

A clap of thunder rang through the room, making Yoshiki cover his ears at the loud sound. After a while of uncertain silence, the spirit spoke again.

"Very well, you have made you choice," she whispered, her voice getting fainter. "You are just like me, Shinozaki..."

The floor started to shake, making the couple cry out in shock and fear, Surely they'd done enough to stop the curse?

A large explosion and a large banging sounds were the last things Yoshiki could sense. He was forced backwards, everything flying everywhere, until the edges of his vision turned black.

Gave away a huge hint in the story. And cliffhanger. sorry!