#Airisu: The Crow and the Witch
Himeji Walls (Airisu POV): Post 78
#Wss366 #Candle #TimeTravelAuthors Whatever
The cry “Awk!” escaped my beak. "So cold!" How could the Princess of the Walls, point-blank, refuse to help?
“What…?” Sumika began, only to be cut off by the kitsune’s laughter.
“Kyan, kyan, kyan.” Her tail shook with each peal of mirth. Then, in a serious tone, she said, “Even I can’t raise the dead. Her ghost haunts the well, counting plates.”
In response to Mistress tensing under me, I cooed, “Steady, steady.” She didn’t always appreciate a joke, and now wasn’t the time to lose one’s cool.
She relaxed and said, “Then, I need your help to set her soul free.”
The princess wrapped her tails around herself before answering. “If I do this for you, will you release me from your service when I am done? Though I am sworn to Seirei-tsukai, I owe you nothing.”
Without hesitation, Sumika agreed. “We will. I swear that I’ll release you from all obligation.”
“Awk!” I squawked. “Think about what you’re saying!” Looking toward Osakabe-hime, I clarified, “We can only speak for ourselves. We won’t hold you. And once your current mistress has gone to the Yellow Springs, you’ll be free of that as well.”
“Agreed. I’ll aid you.” The woman raised a finger, and the talisman in my lady’s hand broke with a sharp snap.
Sumika dropped the pieces and bowed in agreement.
The Princess took a candle of five sacred colors—red, yellow, blue, white, and black—from her kimono and said, “Take this and follow its flame to the plate Okiku-san seeks. Then, at night, when she calls for it, return it to her.”
She handed the taper to Mistress. Then, before turning and receding into the darkness, she said, “I foresee we’ll meet again, and I will remember how you keep your word.”
#TootFic #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy #TimeTravel #Serial #SlowBurn #Sapphic #Folklore #Yokai
