It is January 2nd of 2011 when Inazuma Yaeko is contacted about her first piece of business of the new year. She has come back to her home in Ibaraki for a few days to take care of some other affairs in town, and to take a short wintertide vacation.
The cold season's air seems to seep through to her very bones, and despite winter actually being her favourite season, that day makes her question her own tastes — it is absolutely freezing, and she has not packed as many warm clothes as she probably should have. Well, hindsight is 20/20 as they say. After closing her house's door, she takes out her ringing phone from her jacket's outer right pocket, and accepts the call.
「もしもし、八重子です。」 She answers, with a tired drawl to the dragged syllables, her lips too numb to utter anything more clearly. She got up quite early, at about 6 am, since she could not stand staying in bed for any longer. While waiting for the other to respond, she takes off straight to the coffee shop just a couple of streets away. (TL: Yes? Yaeko speaking.)
A low chuckle comes from the other side of the line, no doubt the brat is aware of her predicament — sleep deprived, plagued with nonsensical visions, and in dire need of some damn caffeine at ungodly hours in the morning.
"Hey there, cuz. Haven't slept much, huh?"
"Shut up, you know I didn't," she retorts with a huff, tone snappy yet with no real heat behind, the situation way too familiar to be out of the ordinary. "What do you want, Vik? Also, why is it you calling me and not your brother?"
He lets out an amused huff of his own, shaking his head slightly even if Yaeko can not see it for herself. "Which one? Thomas is busy away on business, just like you, and Niko is already on a call with Junpei and Kurō."
Yeah, that certainly checks out. Vik would not have been the one to contact her had any of her other cousins and brothers been available.
Viktor Inazuma-Iordanou, or "Vik" as most of their family affectionately call him, is one of her paternal second cousins, and one of the few she keeps regularly in contact with. He is five years her junior, and has three older siblings, two of which are twins —Kyriake, Thomas and Nikolaos. For one reason or the other, it will always be that branch of the Inazuma Clan, the ones to inform her of where she will be needed next regarding all their family's affairs. Honestly, it is likely it would come across as a bit strange to outsiders —the fact that she was closer to second cousins than first—, but considering how the dynamics of their clans work, it really is not that much of a mystery.
Traditionally, all Japanese sorcerer clans deal with both the mundane and the supernatural, so they lead a double-life of sorts. On the mundane side of things, they are old money, owners of a multitude of resort chains, casinos and other social establishments. In another time, they even used to hold Noble titles, and though they have technically kept them, it is not like they are of much use in the Contemporary Era they live in. Meanwhile, in the supernatural world they are a fairly well-known coven —at least in their side of the world—; one of the most ancient, and on the bigger side in terms of number of members. They mostly have business in the Eastern side of the globe, due to the majority of them being Eastern sorcerers themselves, but at times their presence is required in the Western world as well.
Today seems to be one of such days. Vik may be calling her to let her know she's going to be needed in the States for one of their casinos, but Yaeko feels deep down in her soul that she will be needed for supernatural business too, just not yet, but soon — and her fuzzy visions so early in the morning did nothing but confirm it.
"Things are escalating so there's some huge trouble brimming in the Western world," he finally confesses, heaving a slow sigh, wearily rubbing his frown with his free hand.
"In the States, to be precise. Word is that a bunch of baby vampires have just found out about Silas of the Travellers and the immortality cure. I know it is not exactly our jurisdiction, but considering what the problem actually is this time, we have no choice but to oversee how things unravel and involve ourselves if the situation demands it. Your older brother would have gone instead, had he had the time to do so. Unfortunately for everyone, no offence cuz, Minato is the only one that is more powerful than you, but he's overwhelmed by his Heir training, not that he will ever admit it," he tsk-tsks with a wry grimace — right, he knows all too well how stubborn his older cousin and future Clan Head is. Many a time he had trained to the point of deep exhaustion, being too set on not letting anyone get even a whisper about just how much everything was getting to him.
This time sighing in utter exasperation, Yaeko looks up silently praying for patience, wishing wholeheartedly that her gods are merciful enough to give some to her.
"As if the world didn't have enough problems yet, now the ignorant are after one of the few things that can really disrupt the world's balance." She cannot help but groan, tolerance for that kind of stupidities never high, and now ever-thinning. Well, America it is, then.「 I will go。私の兄弟とニコに言ってください。」" (TL: Do let my brothers and Niko know, please.)
"Will do, cuz," he assures her, tone back to being cheerful. With that, he hangs up, leaving Yaeko to continue with her morning routine while pondering on what was to come next.
The door to the traditional-styled establishment chimes when she opens it, and she is immediately greeted with the delicious smell of freshly baked goods and recently made coffee. Rows upon rows of delicate-looking pastries can be seen all cross the crystal-covered counter. The moment she gets close enough to them, the vendor cleaning some supplies looks up and offers her a wide smile.
"Well, well, well, as I live and breathe! If it isn't the ever-elusive Inazuma princess!" He exclaims, opening his eyes comically and teasingly wiggling his eyebrows, his arms open and inviting as if presenting in front of a crowd.
She nods at him in greeting, "Yukimura, it's been a while. Hope you still remember my regular order, because I find myself desperate for caffeine to finally flood my veins."
"Ahh, how I missed that colourful way you express yourself in. Of course I remember it, how could I not?" He jests, and points at an unoccupied table. "Come, sit down, I will be done in a wink."
She does as told, looking out of the window, seeing the Sun slowly rising in the sky. The café is still pretty much empty, being Sunday morning and all, but the street is starting to gradually fill with people going gods know where to do who knows what.
At long last, when Yaeko finally has her so-adored mocha latte heating up her numb hands, a content sigh escapes her lips in-between sips. She takes this short while of undisturbed peace to come up with a plan of action for the following days, potentially weeks.
First things first, she will have to finish things up in Japan before taking care of the relatively urgent business in America, considering she has been tasked with checking out a couple of presumably cursed buildings in the Ibaraki area, where she has been staying for the past couple of days. Being sorcerers and having a connection with the divine meant they are the closest to exorcists that the world will ever have.
Secondly, she will have to contact her older brothers to see if they know anything else of importance regarding Silas and the cure. Sure, she knows the basics, almost every member of the Eastern sorcerer society does, but there must be details only Heirs were privy to.
Last but not least, she will have to both brush up her knowledge of body reconstruction and do a bit of recon on the general situation overseas. If her suspicions are proved true, she will have to interfere in her gods' behalf and act as the guiding hand of destiny once more. Why is it that when someone needs a new body, it is always her the gods ask for? Her relatives are also proficient in it, being fellow Inazuma. No, she is not whining, that would be unbecoming.
Well, it is a bit bothersome, but she ought to endure; for it is her duty, to serve and to guide. At the very least, it will certainly make for an interesting experience. It's the least she can hope for.
───── •᯽• ─────
Within the bounds of their jurisdiction —read: the Japanese Archipelago—, the country is divided in areas by prefecture, and so she arrives wrapped in her brand new trench coat at Ibaraki's 16th Land a few hours after Vik's call. It is now 10 am and still cold, but the sky is clear and the faint breeze that was blowing has died down, so it isn't too uncomfortable.
The eroded pavement crunches under her black leather boots, the soil still a tad humid due to the heavy rain that had fallen days prior, and a smell of neglected wilderness surrounds the abandoned area. It only takes Yaeko about five minutes to catch a glimpse of her target location. The barely standing walls that surround the property are little more than half-crumbled ruins, the windows are either cracked or torn out of their hinges; an unnerving aura has settled in the area, and now shrouds the building as if it means to mimic the cold embrace of death — any life that might have been there once, if at all, has made itself scarce in the last decade, or perhaps a bit longer. It feels like an omen. In conclusion, the whole place looks ready to be demolished.
An ordinary human may not have noticed, but Yaeko is not one, so she does notice — a deep sense of disquiet encompasses now the decayed estate. Where there have been soft chirping sounds just a moment before, only a tense silence remains. She then hears a muted noise coming from behind one of the walls, a series of soft whines and whimpers, as if someone was crying. Suddenly, she feels an unnatural presence behind her back. Lightning fast, two decades of reflex conditioning allows her to immediately turn around, guard still up, and make a subtle two-finger gesture to her right side as soon as she catches the mass of shapeless smoke that has appeared out of the blue. Her hand glows with a faint silver halo, before it vanishes as if it was a mirage. A disfigured face surfaces and lets out an ear-splitting shriek before convulsing and falling down in pain.
She watches, facial expression indiscernible and with a detached look on her chestnut brown eyes, as the dark, formless mass disintegrates into violet dust, leaving little to nothing in its wake. When she raises her gaze from watching the spirit disappear on the ground, there is no ominous feeling anymore. The building, or what is left of it, is still very much about to collapse, but the sky above is clear and so is the air around.
───── •᯽• ─────
When evening comes, just a couple of minutes after coming back to her apartment and cleansing both cursed locations, she gets a message from Minato asking her to call him once she gets home. Yaeko starts the video call and puts it on speaker, and while she waits for her brother to pick it up, she starts preparing a cup of delicious red tea, her favourite without a doubt. Not even three ticks later, her brother's face appears on the screen. He is comfortably wearing a dark sweatshirt, blonde hair a bit tousled, and a tired kind drowsy yet content grin on his face.
"Hey Eko-chan, how is everything going?"
"Oh well, you know, the usual. Not even during vacation time do I seem to be able to take an actual break. The gods have always loved to keep me busy, regardless of whether it was a working day or not," she rants, brushing the loose strand of hair that is obscuring her sight from the phone's screen.
A bewildered yet deeply amused laugh ripples from the speakers, so warm it is almost as if he was physically there with her. But he is not. He is abroad, getting used to managing the family business and their branches overseas. It is a bittersweet feeling, Yaeko admits; she is really happy for him, knowing he finds joy in his job and duties, but she cannot help but selfishly wish he had more spare time, like they used to when they were kids. Unfortunately, time passes by and never regresses back.
They keep talking for a while. He tells her all about his intentions of proposing to Kushina, she catches him up to date with what is going on in the supernatural world. When she asks the question that has turned her mind into its home for the past several hours, he feels silent, contemplating.
"In all honesty, we do know about the Travellers and their affairs way more thoroughly than anybody would think," he muses, tapping his chin with his fingertips, partially lost in thought. He is trying to recall any and all details he has been told regarding the issue.
"They were the creators of the Immortality Spell. Or more like, Qetsiyah was the creator of the Immortality Elixir. She originally created it for herself and her beloved, Silas, but then she found out he had planned to elope with her handmaiden, stealing the Elixir in the process so as to spend eternity with his 'one true love', or so he professed."
Here Minato flexes his free hand's fingers to sign quotes, rolling his eyes with an expression that clearly conveys his deplorable opinion on Silas. After all, you do not scorn a woman like that, much less a powerful witch like Qetsiyah. "The point of it all is that when she found out, Qetsiyah faked Amara's death, created an only dose of the cure, petrified Silas with it, and created the Other Side using Amara as its anchor."
"Wait, so there is only one dose?" Incredulity spilled from her voice. "I am walking into a warzone…" Yaeko laments under her breath, already envisioning the tremendous headache it would cause her. For weeks. "Thanks for the info, ani. If you have any spells that might help me with this insufferable endeavour, please share them with me. I will send Kaito to you."
Once they end the call,Yaeko sighs, and quietly mutters — 「海翔、君はここに必要です。」 (TL: Kaito, you are needed here.)
A few seconds later, a series of keen rasps sound from the other side of the kitchen. It is as if the loyal blue-grey falcon has appeared out of nowhere. Yaeko lightly pets his feathered head, and Kaito preens under her touch. 「私は君と港兄さんにが会ってほしいです。してください。」 (TL: I want you to meet with Minato, please.)
He caws in agreement, and she watches as he parts, knowing he will always have her back.