Communion

Giving Miguel a look of suspicion Sher Aka asks, “Why do you seem so eager for her to try this? I would assume you’d be scared for her safety.”

“I am but if she can solve this fear today it means she can come home after getting ordained.”

“I see, so you think this is a risk worth taking to keep her away from me.”

“No. It’s a low risk that could change her life for the better. Not everything is about you, Elf.”

“I’m glad you’re at least looking out for her.”

“Of course I am. She’s my family.”

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Waking up again I feel myself resting on a patch of grass with my head resting on mima’s lap.

“Oh? Good morning, Rose~

“Good morning…Where are we?”

“We’re a little outside the city right now. Your cousin flew us there for some privacy.”

“Ah, I see.”

“We’ve also brought some wood to prepare for a bonfire and once you’re ready we’ll light it for your communion.”

“Gao…And what is the prayer I’m supposed to say?”

“It’s the second verse of the Spirit King Hymn. Shara Seleen probably taught it to you already, it goes like this:

Then in darkness an ember ignites,

The sister forespoken will breach through the night,

Oh Ifrit King of Fire comes down in a blaze,

Then Nox King of Darkness is swept from his feet,

As Ifrit the bold one comes to attend to his need,

‘I'll dance with you Nox as long as it takes, 

Then when you are tired I'll dance with myself.’

‘Oh great King of Fire there is no need to fear,

For all of us small ones are also here,

We'll dance with you too and just like a blaze

We'll dance till we're sore and life feels like a haze.’”

“Wait…I think I do know it! Sally hummed it to me to teach me the fire ritual!”

“That must mean her Highness Ifrit probably enjoys it a lot.”

“I see that makes sense! But it’s a little short, right?”

“That’s why you’re supposed to keep repeating it until the ritual is over.”

“I see!”

“I’ll go try it then!”

“Wait! Before you do. Are you sure you know what you’re going to say?”

“Gao!”

“Alright then. Miguel, please light the bonfire.”

Breathing in deeply, Miguel lets out a short burst of fire to light the bonfire and asks me, “Are you sure you’ve thought everything through, Rose?”

“Gao!”

“Alright…”

Mima says, “We’ll be cheering you on from the sidelines Rose but we can’t do much if a Spirit King shows up.”

“I know!”

“Alright…Just…Be honest and it should be fine.”

“Gao!”

Standing in front of the lit bonfire I make sure that I remember the hymn, take a deep breath and start to dance while singing.

“Then in darkness an ember ignites,

The sister forespoken will breach through the night,

Oh Ifrit King of Fire comes down in a blaze,

Then Nox King of Darkness is swept from his feet,

As Ifrit the bold one comes to attend to his need,

‘I'll dance with you Nox as long as it takes, 

Then when you are tired I'll dance with myself.’

‘Oh great King of Fire there is no need to fear,

For all of us small ones are also here,

We'll dance with you too and just like a blaze

We'll dance till we're sore and life feels like a haze.’”

Dancing the ritual feels a lot better together with the song. I thought it would be hard to remember the words while doing the steps but it actually feels more like it completes the dance. I feel almost a little dizzy as I say,

“Ifrit Spirit King of Fire, hear my plea. Clothe me in your fire so that I may not stand cold and naked in front of the Kings. Fire Dress.”

I open my eyes when I hear polite clapping followed by a familiar sounding voice, “Oh~ Upgrading from dancing to singing as well. We might make a professional out of you yet my descendant.”

“Don’t call me your descendant when you don’t mean it!”

“Oh? What’s got you in such a tizzy? It almost sounds like you’re mad at me.”

“I am mad at you!”

Ifrit looks both confused and intrigued as she asks, “Why?”

“Because you and your siblings just treat me like a toy!”

“So? What’s the problem? I tend to treat my toys well.”

“The problem is that I am a person just like you and you shouldn’t treat other people like toys!”

“Ehhhh~ I think I might have misheard. Is my dumb little descendant trying to imply that we’re equals?”

“Of course we are! We are both people aren’t we? Also! Stop calling me your descendant when you don’t mean it!”

“Hmm? But I do mean it. You are my descendant after all, that’s just a matter of fact.”

“If the only reason you call us descendants is because we have a bit of your blood in us then please don’t. If you want to call us family, act like family too. A good mother or grandma would never talk about her descendants as toys!”

Ifrit seems highly amused as she lets out a chuckle and gets close to me, “You greedy little brat. Don’t you have enough family already? I even made you a royal and yet you still want more…Are you so eager for me to be your mother instead?”

“No. I already have a mother and she’s a hundred times better than you could ever be!”

“Oh? It seems you really enjoy the gift I gave you. But I guess I do have to talk to her about her daughter not respecting her elders. Maybe a small punishment is in order…”

“Don’t you dare do anything to her or the rest of my family!”

“Hihihihi, I really must be going deaf. For a second I thought you were trying to threaten me. You want me to treat you like my children, right? Isn’t it my job as the elder to punish my descendants when they do wrong? I can’t really punish you, you’re too young to even understand how foolish you are but Ruby isn’t.”

“You…You just don’t understand family at all! Instead of punishing mama you should learn from her, you hag!”

“Hihihihi, Go on keep going! You’ll just add more to the disciplining I need to do to Ruby, hihihihi.”

Feeling rage boil over, I say in a voice that echoes itself multiple times, “Silence you damn excuse of an ancestor.”

“Eh! No way, you managed to activate the Emperor’s voice against me!? Hihihihi. You’re such an interesting toy! You really do think you’re on some kind of equal footing with me don’t you? No, scrap that, if you managed to use the emperor’s voice it means you think yourself superior to me, hihihihi.”

“That’s because I am. And so is mama. You’re just a bully who thinks treating people as toys is the same as family! The truth is that you ingrate don’t even know anything about family! You couldn’t be a mother if you wanted to!”

Ifrit seems like she’s getting annoyed as she says, “Oy kid…It seems like you really don’t understand who you’re talking to. I am-”

“Shut up! You might be stronger than me but you’re still just a lowly bully who treats their family like toys! You’re no better than my father, you tyrant.”

“Hihihihi, HIHIHIHIHIHIHI! Oh really? I’m no better than you? It seems I’ve gone too soft on you mortals.”

A red eye suddenly forms in the sky, covering the entire horizon, looking straight down at me. Fire of different colors then begins to fall from the sky and surround me followed by hundreds of lightning bolts raining down from the sky and decimating the area around me.

In a booming voice that seems to come from all directions she says, “So, you have my full attention now brat. Do you still think yourself equal to me?”

“Kikikiki, Pathetic. All you showed is that you’re not worthy of the power you wield. My mother would be a thousand times better than you as Spirit King. So, for the sake of us all, kill yours-.”

Falling over to the ground, I go unconscious.

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