Chapter Summary: Will they find the relic of the Fox God and complete the trials? It will take all of their talents.
Chapter Word Count: 7,674
"You're armed," Sita said, frowning. "And you've brought all of our things inside."
"With a knife," Yuki said, patting their equipment just inside the door. "We didn't bring any weapons for something that big."
"No, we didn't," Sita said. "Why didn't we think of that?"
"Because it didn't seem like we needed them," Mika said. "And we were only allowed to bring things we might have in our rooms, and swords or anything like that we don't keep in our room."
"Does this mean we've failed the trials?" Yuki said. "We're going to die, and we just got here."
"No, we are not going to die," Sita said. "We know more ways to defend ourselves and fight than anyone else."
"There was a reason we have all of that training in the different forms," Mika said. "It's not just for exercise."
"Oh, right," Yuki said, taking a deep breath. "But we've never needed to fight real things or people. It was all training."
"Why the panic?" Sita said. "We've had years of training. The Elders did not send us out here unprepared."
"Feels like it," Yuki said. "And it was smelly. We've never trained with something smelly."
"Come along," Sita said. She cautiously looked around the outer chamber. "Nothing here."
"It's hiding," Yuki said. "Or it went into another room."
"What is that smell?" Mika said, waving her hand in front of her face.
"The thing," Yuki said. "It smells like that."
"If it came in here it left," Sita said.
"That's a large whatever it is," Yuki said, staring out into the valley. "I'm staying in here."
"Not sure what it is," Mika said, "but it isn't small. And wouldn't fit through the door so we're safe in here. Possibly. If it doesn't breath flame."
"Thanks for that thought," Yuki said, groaning.
"We'll have to go past it to leave," Sita said. "So start thinking about how to scare it away or kill it."
"I don't think we can kill that," Mika said. "It looks very Western dragon-like."
"If we don't find the token, we're stuck here anyway," Yuki said.
"It's here," Sita said.
"You've had a vision?" Mika asked, perking up. "Did it tell you where in here it is?"
"No," Sita said. "But I had visions last night of us with it, and handing it to the Elders."
"Well, that's good," Yuki said. "Now we just have to find it to take back with us."
"We have not finished exploring this temple," Sita said. "It will be here somewhere."
"We should split up," Yuki said. "We can each take a part of the temple."
"No," Sita said. "It is safer to stick together."
"It'll take longer to find the token," Yuki said.
"What is the rule?" Mika said. "Stick together, and don't go out on your own."
"So we'll die together," Yuki said. "I can accept that."
"You have become so negative," Sita said. "When did you become such a negative person?"
Yuki shrugged. "The pods? How can we be positive when we spent so much time learning about the Thirteen and all the things that drive them. Or why our clan is hiding from them? How?"
"I can't answer that," Sita said.
"We need to find the token," Mika said. "Philosophical discussions can wait."
"I'll draw the map," Yuki said, taking out a small pad from her bag. "What do we have so far?"
"This chamber, and a hall leading to an inner hexagonal chamber," Mika said. "The inner chamber has a door in each wall."
"So, this chamber has two exits, one to the outside, and one to that inner chamber," Yuki said.
"Correct," Sita said. "We should start to our right in the inner chamber and follow it around."
"Good enough," Mika said. "And no going up or down stairs until we've explored the entire level. It would be too easy to miss something."
"Let's take a break," Yuki said, sitting down on a stone bench next to the door. Opening her pad, she started making notes on the map.
"How much have we covered?" Mika asked, sitting down next to her, and taking out her water bottle.
"This is the second door," Sita said. "And there were ten rooms along that long hall."
"They looked like sleeping chambers," Yuki said. "The first door led to storage rooms or craft rooms. Or utility rooms."
"So we don't really know what those rooms were for," Mika said.
"No," Yuki said, nodding. "Could have been anything. But there were no visible stairways in either direction. And no doors leading out."
"That was unexpected," Sita said. "There must be other ways in or out."
"It's built into a mountain," Mika said. "We only saw the front. Which is very large but it isn't the whole thing."
"This could take days," Yuki said, flipping over to another page. "Unless we get lucky and find it soon. Why didn't whomever found it say where it was?"
"It would have been too easy," Mika said.
"Or they were eaten by that thing," Yuki said.
"If they were eaten they wouldn't have been able to tell the Elders it was here," Sita said.
"Our next task, once we get back, is going to be to bring the token back here for the next trial," Yuki said.
"Possible," Sita said. "But unlikely."
"The reason why the Elders want the token was certainly very flimsy," Mika said. "I wonder what the other novice trials were?"
"We aren't allowed to talk about the actual trials," Sita said. "Other than very general descriptions."
"Just enough to sound impressive and scare other novices," Mika said.
"I can do that," Yuki said, grinning. "I'm good at the scaring part."
"You?" Sita said, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.
"I scared you!" Yuki said.
"You surprised me," Sita said. "I wasn't expecting such a loud voice from such a small person."
"I'm not small," Yuki said, objecting.
"We're the same size," Mika said. "Normal. It's Sita who's a giant."
"I'm not a giant," Sita said. "I'm just a little taller than you both."
"If we ever become idols, you'll have to stand in the middle," Yuki said. "Or we'll look odd and people will laugh."
"The idol plan just doesn't make sense," Sita said, shaking her head. "I think someone just wants the Clan to have idols and came up with a way to make that happen."
"Why?" Mika said. "Why would the Clan need idols?"
"Another way to make money?" Yuki said. "There's no money in priestesses if no one wants to be one. But an idol farm?"
"Not a better reason," Mika said. "At least, if we become idols, it won't be for long. How long do idols last? A year or two?"
"It won't matter if we don't find that token," Sita said. She clapped her hands. "Enough of a break."
"Yes, bossy," Yuki said, stuffing her pad back in her bag. "Next door."
"After you." Mika said, waving Sita through the door. "At least we can hide behind her," she said in a loud whisper to Yuki. "She can't hide behind us very well."
"But I don't need to hide behind you," Sita said, as she cautiously poked her head out of the door. "There are two of you so while you're distracting them I can sneak up behind them."
"Finally, stairs," Yuki said, when they reached the end of a long, wide hall.
"Wide ones," Mika added. "Must be important."
Yuki took out her map and quickly scribbled on it. "It's in a direct line with the main entrance."
"We'll come back to it," Sita said. "Let's finish up the rest of this level first."
"It's probably up there," Yuki said.
"We don't want to miss anything important, especially if we have to come back," Sita said.
Yuki nodded, putting her pad away again. "So, next door?"
"Next door," the other two agreed.
They headed back down to the hexagon room.
"Smells like that thing again," Yuki said, once they reached it.
"Maybe it lives inside the temple?" Mika said. "In one of the chambers we haven't checked yet."
"Possible," Sita said.
"That one is glowing," Yuki said, pointing at one of the remaining doors. "Must be sealed."
"This one first," Sita said, pointing at the one next to it.
Stepping into the fourth door, they found a small platform at the top of stairs leading down into the dark.
"And that's where the smell is coming from," Yuki said. "It must live down there. Let's save that one for later."
"Yes," Sita said. "If that monster is down there we don't want to disturb it."
"Unless it is guarding the token," Mika said.
"Next door first," Yuki said. "You can go down there if you want."
"No, it can wait," Mika said. "Let's look at the one with the magic seal."
"How do we get past the seal?" Sita asked, carefully examining it. "It doesn't look any different from the others."
"I can't tell you," Yuki said. "Our training didn't cover breaking into magically protected rooms."
"We learned how to break a curse," Sita said. "Isn't it the same thing?"
"That was a priestess healing blessing," Mika said. "Not magic of this kind."
"Wouldn't hurt," Yuki said. "We also know the chi forms of the Crystal Clan."
"Which is not magic either," Sita said.
"We could sing at it," Yuki said. "We did spend several months in the learning pods learning how to sing and dance. There are rituals that have dances in them."
"Let's keep it simple," Sita said. "It might just be an alarm. What do we have that we can throw at it?"
"Living or dead?" Yuki asked. "A sock or an apple?"
"Don't waste an apple," Mika said. "Or a sock."
"I'll be right back," Yuki said, putting down her bag. "Don't go anywhere." Turning, she headed towards the entrance.
"Where are you going?" Sita yelled at her retreating back. Yuki waved over her shoulder but continued.
"She's going to be a famous priestess some day," Mika said.
"Famous for being good?" Sita asked.
"Or for doing something very bad," Mika said. "I have never understood why she wanted to be a priestess." At Sita's look she added, "other than you asking us to come with you. She doesn't fit in the mold of most priestess candidates."
"That is not a bad thing," Sita said. "They are asking us to do something different. We will still be priestesses if we pass our trials, but they have given us far more training than is necessary for Clan priestesses and an undefined task related to the Thirteen and some unknown future conflict we will help with."
"I don't see how three new priestesses can help the Thirteen," Mika said. "And, as you said, idols don't seem to make sense either."
"Don't worry," Yuki said, rejoining them, carrying several branches and rocks. "We'll be the best idol priestesses the clan has ever seen. Why doesn't matter right now. And we'll have fun doing it. My sister will be so jealous."
"We didn't become novices to make your sister jealous," Sita said, growling at her.
"No, that's just a bonus," Yuki said, smirking. "Now, stand back."
"What are you doing?" Sita asked.
"Testing an idea," Yuki said. Putting down the rocks and all but one stick, she cautiously approached the door. Standing to one side, she thrust the branch into the center of the opening. There was a snapping sound and she pulled the branch back.
"Look," she said, showing them the stick. "It chopped the end off."
"So, good thing we didn't try to go through the door ourselves," Mika said.
"Yes," Yuki said. "Might have been painful," she said.
"That doesn't get us past it," Sita said, taking the stick and examining it closely. "Will it stop one of your rocks?"
"Let's see," Yuki said, lobbing a small stone towards the door. Seconds after it passed through the door there was a puff of dust and the clatter of bits of stone falling to the ground.
"The token could be behind that," Mika said.
"Or it could be elsewhere," Sita said. "There must be something important through that door, but that doesn't mean it is what we are looking for. We don't know what the people who built this temple thought was important."
"So, check out the rest of upstairs and then come back here?" Mika said. "Whatever is in there isn't going to leave while we do that."
"Save it for later," Sita said, nodding. "We'll come back to it if we don't find the token elsewhere."
"How far up do they go?" Yuki asked, standing at the bottom of the stairway on the second level.
Mika threw a small stone as hard as she could up the stairs. There was a very faint clattering when it hit. "At least thirty meters," she said.
"Careful," Sita said. "It might be booby trapped. "One on the steps at a time."
"I'll go first," Yuki said, placing a foot cautiously on the first step and putting her weight on it. When nothing happened she quickly sprinted halfway up until only her feet were visible from the bottom. "Safe," she said. "There's a platform further up."
"Go ahead," Sita yelled up. "We're right behind you."
"So, do we let her get to the top alone?" Mika asked, stepping onto the first step.
"No," Sita said. "Go."
Nodding, Mika raced up the stairway, reaching Yuki and then urging her forward. When they had both disappeared into the darkness, Sita raced up the steps to join them, not stopping until they were all on a platform with several hundred more steps to go.
"Long way up," Mika said once they were all together again, before moving to the next landing.
"It better be up there," Yuki said. "And nothing else."
"It's probably a tower," Sita said. "There are several visible from the outside. Notice how it curves slightly? It's taking us back to the front of the temple.
"Well, we can always jump," Mika said. "We haven't tested that aspect of the chi forms, falling from high places."
"You can try it first," Yuki said. "I'd rather try it from a lower place."
"We'll take a break at the top," Sita said. "We're almost there."
"Good," Yuki said. "It's a long way up."
"And there it is," Mika said, pointing up towards a landing. "Only a few steps to go."
"It must be something important," Sita said, looking up. "There's a door there."
All three of them reached the landing at the same time.
"A locked door," Yuki said. "With another magic seal of some kind."
"Of course," Mika said. "But this has an actual door."
"Which means?" Sita asked.
"Alarm, not a booby trap," Mika said.
"Not necessarily," Yuki said. "But let's try a priestess blessing on an ofuda this time. I left all of my sticks down at the bottom.
Sitting on the top step, Sita took out a small strip of rice paper, a bamboo pen, and a small bottle of ink. Pausing for a minute to think, she carefully drew the ideographs down the strip of paper. She blew on it gently to dry it before showing it to the others.
"Think that will work?" she asked.
"Not what I would have used," Mika said. "The Clan meaning is not exactly the same as the Kanji with those."
"It's really about intent with magic," Yuki said. "The actual language shouldn't matter. Though calling on the gods of the Thirteen in one of their languages might lead to unexpected results."
"You say that from experience?" Mika said.
"Possibly," Yuki said, grimacing.
"Shall we see?" Sita said. First she put away her paper, pen, and ink. "Ready?" she asked, stepping close to the door.
Yuki and Mika nodded, stepping to the side.
Sita slapped the ofuda against the door and ducked to the side. Nothing happened for several long moments. And then a hissing started coming from where the ofuda was stuck to the door. After a minute a dark mist started coming from the same spot. This continued for even longer and suddenly stopped, following by the door dissolving into a fine dust in the doorway.
"Well, that was different," Yuki said, looking down at the pile of dust. "Should it have done that?"
"Unknown," Sita said. "I've never used that on a magical object. It's mainly used to purify something or someone who has been touched by evil. Or so our training claims."
"It worked," Mika said. "That's all that matters right now." She cautiously touched the dust. "Is there any remaining magic?" she asked Yuki.
"Not a drop," Yuki said. She looked into the chamber. "And nothing in there is leaking magic."
"There must be something important in there if they bothered to use real magic to keep a door closed," Mika said. She looked at Sita, who was leaning against the wall. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, yes," Sita said. "But that took energy that I wasn't expecting."
"How much?" Yuki asked. "And how long until you are ready to continue?"
"In just a moment," Sita said. "It was like using the 'water skipping form' three times without stopping in between."
"Better you than me, then," Yuki said. "Those wipe me out for hours." She dug into her pack and pulled out a handful of nuts and gave them to Sita. "Eat these, the salt will help."
They sat at the top step for several minutes until Sita had recovered, then they gathered up all of their things and prepared to go through the door. Nodding to each other, they stepped through the doorway, carefully avoiding the door dust. They found themselves in a short hall, lined with mosaic images.
"Look, someone feeding that beast," Yuki said, pointing at one picture. "Guess it belongs here."
"Yes," Mika said. "Like a large guard dog." She pointed at another picture showing the beast stomping on a group of armored figures.
"That might explain why it's empty," Sita said. "Anyone who tried to move in has to deal with that first."
"Is that the token?" Yuki asked, pointing at another picture showing a figure wearing a glowing object.
"Possibly," Sita said. She walked up to the door at the end of the hall. "Is there any magic on this one?" She asked Yuki.
Yuki carefully examined the door. "I don't see anything," she said, "though I can't make any promises of what is on the other side. Might be nothing. Might be a trap."
"We'll just have to open it then," Sita said. "Step back." Examining the door carefully, she stepped back and kicked it. There was a cracking sound and it opened less than a meter.
"Not rusty," Mika said, looking at the hinges that had been revealed by the kick. "What's on the other side?"
"Someone's bedchamber," Yuki said. She slipped into the chamber. "A cleric? There are a lot of scrolls." She touched one and jumped back when it crumbled into dust. "Scrolls we aren't taking with us."
"Aren't taking with us?" Mika said, puzzled, joining her. "Ah," she said when the dust was pointed out.
"Whomever it was, is still here," Sita said.
"So we just broke into someone's tomb?" Yuki said. "We won't catch something, will we?"
"Whatever killed them should be long gone," Sita said. "The only thing keeping it all from turning to dust was that door."
"Do you think whomever told the Elders about the token ever looked in here?" Yuki said.
"Only if they were able to get past that sealed door without disturbing it," Sita said. "But very likely not."
"It's probably magical," Sita said. "Do you see anything in here?" she asked Yuki.
"Nothing," Yuki said.
"What about this chest?" Mika said.
"if the token is wooden or cloth, and in there, opening it might cause it to disintegrate," Sita said. "Be careful."
Yuki tapped it with her foot, causing it to turn into a pile of wood fragments. "Well, if it did we wouldn't be able to take it with us."
"What's that?" Mika said, pointing at a metal object. "Is that the token?"
"No," Sita said. "Is it magic?"
"It has a glow to it like that doorway on the ground level," Yuki said. Brushing away the wood and dust, she picked it up.
"That could have killed you," Mika said.
"I'm not touching it," Yuki said, showing them the piece of leather she'd used to pick it up."
"There's nothing else here, unless you want to look there," Sita said, pointing at the skeleton on the pallet.
"No," Yuki said. "Let's go back down. We still have that other chamber and the basement to check out."
Sita and Mika nodded, following Yuki out of the room, down the hall and to the steps.
"What we need is a slide," Yuki said, looking down the steps. "It would be much faster."
"Not much of a railing to slide down," Mika said. "Not very smooth."
"I'll pass," Yuki said. "That looks like it would hurt."
"Going down those steps was easier than going up," Yuki said, as they paused at the bottom to catch their breath. "I'm surprised it wasn't booby trapped."
"We haven't found any real traps yet," Mika said.
"It's a temple, not a tomb," Sita said. At Moika's disbelieving snort, she corrected herself. "It wasn't built to be a tomb," she said.
"It's a tomb now," Yuki said. "Probably shouldn't mention to anyone that we disturbed the dead person."
"Only the Elders need to know we were even here," Sita said. She looked at the doorway as they approached it again. "Will we need another blessing for this one?"
"I suspect not," Yuki said, holding up the small metal disk. "I think it's a key of some kind." She touched the doorframe with it. There was a low hum. "And the magic is gone," she said. "Where's my stick?"
Mika handed a long stick to Yuki. She cautiously stuck it through the doorway and pulled it back.
"Nothing?" Sita asked.
"Gone," Yuki said. "It should be safe." Putting the metal disk in a pocket, taking a deep breath she cautiously stepped through the doorway. Turning around she waved impishly at the others. "Safe. Though we'll need a light," she said. "It's dark in here."
"The temple light isn't working?" Mika said, stepping through the doorway.
"No light," Yuki said, taking her glow stick out of her bag. "Looks like an altar room."
"If the token is a holy object it should be in there," Sita said, following, glow stick held high.
"That's an evil looking altar," Yuki said, standing in front of it. A large obsidian top lay on a large block of glowing green stone. "And it feels evil."
"Is that magic?" Mika asked pointing at the glow.
"Not our kind of magic," Yuki said. "Must be some kind of glowing rock."
Sita approached the altar. "The writing on it isn't one I'm familiar with," she said. "But that is the symbol of the token."
"So, we've come to the right place?" Yuki said. "Where do you think it is? In a hidden chamber? Somewhere else?"
"Place the metal disc on the token symbol," Sita told her.
"Why?" Yuki asked.
"Because I have a feeling about this," Sita said.
"Vision?" Mika asked.
"No," Sita said. "Still no visions about this temple."
"They must be broken," Yuki said. "If I were the vision gods I would have given you many about this place. It's just the kind of place where they would be useful."
"I have no control over when and where they occur," Sita reminded her. "Put the disk on the symbol," she repeated.
Nodding, Yuki carefully lay the metal disk on the token symbol on the altar, not touching either in the process. She jumped back as the disc sunk into the stone.
There was a loud grinding noise. The altar started to sink into the floor, revealing a stairway leading down.
"Who wants to look?" Yuki said. "That is really looking like a trap. A bad one."
"I will," Mika said. Taking off her bag and jacket, she approached the stairs. One agonizing step at a time, she descended below the floor. "You need to see this," she shouted up several minutes later.
"If it's the token, just bring it up," Yuki said, shouting down into the hole.
"That may be difficult," Mika said loudly.
"Coming," Sita said. "Do you want to stay up here?" she asked Yuki.
"And not have all of us die together?" Yuki said. "If I'm dying and reincarnating I'm doing it with the two of you. You can't get rid of me that easily."
"You have strange ideas," Sita said, sighing. "We'll be right down," she shouted back to Mika.
"What did you find?" Sita asked once they were all in the hidden chamber.
"That," Mika said, pointing at one of the walls, which was clear crystal. Embedded in it on the other side was the token. And beyond it was a larger chamber containing a large collection of spears, shields, swords, and broken armor. In a far corner was the large beast, snorting flame and carefully watching them.
"How do we get it from there?" Yuki said, cautiously touching the wall. The beast growled when her fingers neared the token.
"Is it possible?" Mika said. "We don't have the right weapons. And even those probably wouldn't stop it."
"We need to find a way into there," Sita said, waving her hand, "and then one of us can distract it while we run in and grab the token."
"If that is even possible, we will still need to find a way to get past it and away from the temple." Mika said.
"The other stairs?" Yuki asked. "The ones we haven't explored yet?"
"Possibly," Sita said. "They must have had a way to feed it, somehow."
"All they had to do was line up some knights, and instant dinner in a can," Yuki said. "Probably didn't take much."
"I don't think it will find us much of a challenge like this," Mika said. "No armor or weapons."
"We do have speed," Sita said. "We should be able to outrun it."
"Yuki can outrun it," Mika said. "Not sure we can."
"Let's see if we can draw it out," Sita said, turning and heading back up into the altar chamber.
"How?" Mika asked, quickly following.
"Yuki will go outside and attract its attention," Sita said. "And we'll see how long it will take."
"I will?" Yuki looked at her skeptically. "How?"
"You'll think of something," Sita said.
"Sing," Mika said.
"It'll never come out if it hears me singing," Yuki said.
"You have a decent voice," Mika said. "More than enough to be a dancing idol. It won't be able to resist."
"If it eats me, I'm going to haunt you both forever," Yuki said.
"It won't eat you," Sita said.
"How do you know that?" Yuki said.
"You'd be too tough and stringy," Sita said. She jumped back away from Yuki's swinging hand.
"Ha, ha," Yuki said, poking her. "You need to work on your jokes. Mika tells better ones."
"Before you do this, we should check the other stairway down," Mika said.
"Of course," Sita said.
"We'll have to come back some day and finish exploring," Mika said, as they stood on the landing looking down another hall at the stairway on the other end going back up.
"But first, we need to see where this goes," Sita said. "If it doesn't go down into the monster's den we will need to check that one. You have all of this recorded on your map?" she asked Yuki.
"Yes," Yuki said. "Some day someone will have to measure these halls and chambers. My sketches don't give a good idea of the actual size."
"It's good enough for us," Sita said.
They cautiously went down the stairway, towards what they hoped was the beast's den. At the bottom was a large rusty iron and wood door.
"How do we open it?" Mika asked, carefully examining the door. "Looks like it hasn't moved in a very long time."
"It look like it is cemented in place," Yuki said. "And it isn't cursed, so we aren't using magic like the last two."
"There must be another way in," Sita said, frowning. "Let's check the altar again."
They returned to the altar room and climbed down into the lower hidden chamber, carefully examining it, inch by inch.
"What's this?" Yuki asked, pointing at a slight indentation in the far wall with a loose piece of stone.
"A secret switch?" Mika said. "But what does it do?"
"Turn this room into a death trap?" Yuki suggested. "We haven't seen anything like that in the entire temple. There must be at least one real trap, besides that smelly beast."
"How do we test it?"
"One of us stays down here and presses it?" Yuki said. "I'll do it."
"None of us should do it," Sita said. "None of us are expendable."
"We need that token," Yuki said. "Or we go back and say we failed."
"We can't," Mika said. "There are too many reasons we must succeed."
"Press it now," Sita said. "We all do it or none."
"Are you sure?" Yuki said. "If we all die, we all fail."
"Yes," Sita said. "Do it!"
"Okay," Yuki said. She looked at them both before pressing on the hidden switch. There was a loud grinding noise and the wall containing the token started to move back into the beasts den. At the same time, the entrance above them started to close.
"Press it again," Sita said. Yuki pressed the switch again and the process reversed itself.
"Did the beast notice?" Mika asked.
"Yes," Yuki said. "It was starting to get up when we reversed it."
"How far would it have to go for us to get the token?" Sita asked. "And how long?"
"At least half way," Mika said, "and then I could get it. All the way for you to fit. It wasn't moving very fast. We'd need the beast to be gone for at least five minutes."
"I could get it," Yuki said.
"We need you to draw it out of there," Sita said. "Just like we planned."
"Okay," Yuki said. "I go outside and make noises until it shows up, run around and keep it out there and you grab the token?"
"Yes," Sita said.
"Let's not do that again," a mud and weed covered Yuki said, later that day.
"You need a bath," Mika said. "You stink."
"Do you have it?" Yuki asked.
Sita held it up, wrapped in leather. "We put the metal disc in its place."
"Did you get anything else?" Yuki asked, hopefully.
"Yes," Mika said, holding out a short spear and small katana. "Which would you like?"
"The spear," Yuki said. "You are much better with sword work than us." She eagerly took the spear. "What is it made from?" She twirled it like a baton.
"A metal I don't recognize," Mika said. "The katana is made from the same material. Very sharp."
"What did you get from the beast den," Yuki asked Sita.
"Just the token," Sita said. "I do not need anything else."
"We can always go back down there," Yuki said.
"No, we need to go," Sita said. "The trial is not complete until we return safely home."
"Sleep would be helpful," Yuki said. "But not here."
"We can make it back to the stone hut," Sita said. "There is water there and we can cook our evening meal."
"And the beast?" Yuki said. "It's still out there."
"It appears to be sleeping," Mika said, returning from the altar room. "You wore it out."
"At least it didn't breath fire," Yuki said. "That would have been a problem."
"The chi fire forms make you inflammable," Sita said.
"Only if you are good at them," Yuki said. "I can do them but not while being chased by a beast like that."
"We will have to practice that," Sita said. "You should be able to do all of the forms under pressure. Including the chi forms."
"I'm ready to go," Mika said. "Everything is packed and put away."
"Time to go," Yuki said, bouncing excitedly. "We have the token, and new toys."
"And now we just have to get back to that village and sneak into that old building," Mika said. "After dealing with the beast, and magic here, it should be easy."
"And now you just cursed us," Yuki said, groaning. "You know better than to tempt the Fox God's brother Coyote to play tricks on us."
"Brother Coyote likes me," Mika said. "You're the one he likes playing tricks on."
"That's because you convinced him to do so," Yuki said, shaking her head. "Though I don't know why he doesn't play tricks on Sita, she's so serious."
"We have come to an agreement," Sita said. "Brother Coyote does not play tricks on me and I do not skin him alive."
"You aren't supposed to threaten the kami," Yuki said, staring at her. "Especially the native ones."
"He shouldn't have pulled my hair in the bath then," Sita said haughtily.
"How did you catch him?" Mika asked, curious.
"Don't play tricks on someone who can see the future," Sita said.
"That's much better," Yuki said, returning from the stream, her wet hair wrapped up in her towel.
"Cold water," Mika said. "I don't understand how you can like it."
"Because even cold water is better than mud and sand," Yuki said. "And it is good for you."
"It might be good for you," Sita said, "but the rest of us prefer hot water."
"You get used to it," Yuki said. "Father couldn't afford to heat the baths at home except for special occasions. I didn't take hot baths every day until I became a novice."
"So, now we know your secret," Mika said. "You became a novice for the hot baths."
"There are worse reasons," Yuki said. "One of the third year novices became one because she wanted a husband and he said if she became a priestess he would marry her."
"A husband? A priestess cannot marry for their first ten years," Sita said. "And then you must get permission from the Clan Elders."
"She didn't know that when she became a novice," Yuki said. "And once you become a novice, the only way out is to fail the trials."
"So, this third year is planning to fail the trials just for a husband?" Mika said.
"Not anymore," Yuki said. "She said he'll just have to wait if he really wants to marry her. She wasn't giving up becoming a priestess for that."
"She saw the light?" Sita said.
"She saw that a priestess has more power than a wife," Yuki said.
"I'm not sure a power hungry priestess is any better than one who does it for a husband," Mika said.
"We all have our reasons," Yuki said. "We followed Sita. Is that a better reason? Friendship?"
"There are truly no bad reasons to become a novice," Sita said. "But you must really desire to help our people to become a true priestess. And that is why it takes four years and the trials. At least we have an important role in our villages. Not all mikos have what we do. Often they are little more than temple servants."
"They aren't clan," Mika said. "A Clan priestess and a miko are very different things."
"Tomorrow we should be back," Yuki said. "Then what happens?"
"We find out where the Elders want us to go. They may want us in Clan villages or they may still want us to become idols and travel for the glory of the Fox God," Sita said.
"Or for some other reason," Yuki said. "I still do not see how being idols brings glory to the Fox God and the clan."
"It certainly does not fit with our training," Mika said. "We were able to defeat all opponents from the fourth year in the pre-trial bouts, but we were not challenged by anyone who could beat us."
"I would like to have a bout with one of the Thirteen warriors," Yuki said. "The Serpent Clan warriors are fierce."
"They are also a foot taller than us," Mika said. "With real combat experience."
"But at least it would be a challenge to go against true warriors of the Thirteen," Yuki said. "Don't you agree?"
"It would be interesting," Sita said, nodding. "We have been trained in many of the same forms."
"I'm sure not all of them are as tall as the ones who appear in the media," Yuki said. "They are related to the Mayans of the Americas and they are not known to be much taller than we are."
"We will not know unless we are able to meet them in person. Which, for simple village clan priestesses is very unlikely," Sita said. "Even if we become idols, what reason would we have to meet them?"
"They could be fans?" Yuki said.
"If the Fox God wants us to meet members of the Thirteen, it will happen," Sita said, shaking her head. "I have not seen it."
"That was close," Yuki said, slipping into the old temple behind Sita and Mika.
"That was unexpected," Sita said. "An all day market in the square and some kind of celebration."
"They were celebrating the defeat of the Fox Temple," Mika said. "It would not have been healthy for us if they knew we are Fox God novices."
"We aren't the same," Sita said. "Our temple does not oppress its clan or others."
"They wouldn't care," Mika said. "If they had stopped us, and found out we are affiliated with the Fox God, they would not have cared."
"So we need to get out of here as soon as possible," Yuki said. "Before someone remembers seeing three strangers and comes looking for us."
"Do you remember the ritual for opening the wall between worlds?" Yuki asked.
"Elder J'dan said we did not need one," Sita said. "The token will open the way for us."
"Then open it," Yuki said, peeking through a crack in the door. "Some uniformed men are heading this way."
Sita nodded, and took out the token. "Where is the mark we left?" She took out her glow stick and held it to the floor. "Come over here," she said. They quickly joined her. She then bent down and drew a circle around them and grabbed them both in her arms. "Take us home, Fox God," she said in a loud whisper. "There's no place like home," she repeated over and over again.
As they waited for the Fox God to grant their wish, there was pounding on the doors of the temple. Just as they were pulled away, a group of men loudly burst into the temple shouting things they couldn't understand.
As soon as they reappeared in their own world, they collapsed in a pile on the floor.
"There's no place like home? Really?" Yuki said.
"It worked," Sita said. "We're home."
"And we could have ended up in Kansas," Yuki said. "Wherever Kansas is."
"Possibly," Sita said, winking at her.
"So now we wait," Mika said, ignoring them. "How long did Elder J'dan say it would take for someone to come and get us out of here?"
"Why can't we do it ourselves?" Yuki asked.
"The temple doors can only be opened from the outside," Sita said. "And she said up to three hours since they wouldn't know exactly when we would return."
"I'm hungry," Yuki said, sitting up and looking around.
"Traveling between worlds does that," Mika said.
"How do you know that?" Yuki said. "They don't teach that in any of the novice or training pod classes we took. I would remember that."
"Because we were all hungry when we went the other way," Mika said. "We should have enough left for a meal."
"As long as we aren't stuck in here for longer than a day," Sita said, "we can eat something, but save some just in case."
"Yes, Sita Mom," Yuki said, poking her. "We'll save some for a snack."
"We should sort through our packs," Mika said. "It'll save time later."
"Good idea," Sita said. "Go through all of your pockets."
"We should have only three things we didn't take with us," Mika said. "The token, the katana, and the spear."
"Possibly other things," Yuki said, pulling things from her pockets. "Does it matter if we brought something else back?"
"When did you have time to take anything else?" Sita asked.
"This," Yuki said, pulling a small object out of her bag. It was a small green gem. "It was in that room in the tower."
"It isn't magical, is it?" Sita asked.
"Would I do something that stupid?" Yuki asked, pressing her hand to her chest in faux 'sadness'.
"You managed to 'borrow' a training baton without anyone noticing," Mika said. "And there was the time you brought 'extra' sweet buns back to our room."
"Yes," Sita said. "You would. But as long as it isn't cursed or have any magic, I won't say anything."
"No, no magic," Yuki said. "That one I used to distract the beast."
"Good," Sita said. "Does anyone have anything else?"
"Unfortunately, all of the scrolls turned to dust when I tried to pick them up," Mika said, "so, nothing."
"How much longer do we have?" Yuki said. "I could use a nap." Bunching up her bag like a pillow she lay down.
"I'll wake you when Elder J'dan arrives," Mika said. "You can sleep also, Sita," she added.
"There'll be plenty of time to sleep in the van," Sita said. "I'll take a nap then. I need to meditate."
"Visions?" Mika said. "I thought you only got them when you were sleeping?"
"Most were. They've gotten stronger since the pod training," Sita said. "The dream visions still are vague most of the time, but they've started coming more often when I'm awake."
"Go, meditate," Mika said. "I'll keep an eye on everything. It's not as if anyone will bother us in here."
"Wake up," Mika said, poking Yuki. "Someone is here." She looked over at Sita, who nodded to her and stood up, stretching slowly.
"That wasn't enough," Yuki said, grouchily.
Before Mika could respond, the door slowly opened with a loud screech, causing them to all wince.
"You are well," Elder J'dan said, standing in the doorway. "You accomplished your goal?"
"Yes," Sita said.
"Can I see it?" she said eagerly.
"I would rather we present it to all of the Elders at the same time," Sita said, nodding at the two trainers that had accompanied her.
"Yes, of course," Elder J'dan said. "Do any of you need any assistance to get back to the van?"
"No," Sita said. "We are all mobile. Let's go," she said turning to Mika and Yuki.
Mika and Yuki quietly picked up their bags and followed her out of the temple and out into the sun.
"Has it only been three days?" Yuki said, blinking in the bright sunlight. "It feels a lot longer."
"You have been gone a week," Elder J'dan said, leading the way down the path.
"Oh," Yuki said. "That explains it. They need to bring the road all the way up here."
"It is on private land," the Elder said. "We would be required to pay for it. And we would prefer that it not receive many visitors. We would have to maintain a full time presence."
"Ah," Mika murmured.
"A different van?" Yuki said as they reached the parking lot.
"We did not know in what condition you would be in," Elder J'dan said. "It is best to be prepared."
"We completely understand, Elder," Sita said. "It was merely surprise. Most of our journey was a relatively safe one, and we received no injuries."
"Not without trying," Yuki said. "There were several moments where things could have gone badly."
"Let's save recitation of our trials for later in front of all of the Elders," Sita said.
"Sorry," Yuki said. "New audience."
"Who may not be allowed to hear of everything that occurred," Mika said. "It will keep."
"Oh, right," Yuki said, blushing. "I believe another nap is in order. If someone would wake me when we get to the temple, I would appreciate it."
"Of course," Mika said. "Take your nap, it's been a long couple of days."
Yuki nodded, lying down on a seat in the back. Sita and Mika sat down close by, keeping her company, and to avoid any questions from the trainers. They spoke in low voices.
"Nosy," Mika said.
"They're just curious," Sita said. "Only the Elders know where we went and why."
"But most of them do not know what Master Xio and Elder Yusif have planned for us, I suspect," Mika said.
"That is expected," Sita said.
"Yuki barely made it," Mika said. "She does not do well when expected to behave. She is still her age and not overly serious."
"She is not typical of most novices," Sita said, smirking. "If she were not ours I do not believe she would have stayed at the temple to complete training."
"I agree," Mika said. "She is still innocent."
"She is good at giving the appearance of innocence," Sita corrected her. "We should follow her example. If we are destined to become idols, we need to appear our age, and not common priestesses."
"Understood," Mika said. "She will be amused."
"We may need lessons on how to be carefree," Sita said. "And how to act our perceived ages."
"A challenge," Mika said. "Idols are not novices."
"And we are no longer novices," Sita said. "It will be good practice."