Forbidden Love of the Onmyoji - The Demon's Bond and Ritual's End - The Daughter of Spirit Veins, Shining Resolve

In the spring of Taishō twelve, in the imperial capital of Tokyo. From the old mansion built deep within Kagurazaka, the morning sun had fled. The Shimozuki family residence. A lineage of onmyoji stretching back to the Heian age had taken root in this place. The grounds spanned some two thousand tsubo. Invisible from the main street. A barrier had been erected. To the eyes of ordinary people, this was nothing more than the forest of an ancient shrine. Sakuya stood before the mirror. Seventeen years old. Her black, lustrous hair was trimmed to shoulder length in a bob. Her eyes were a deep brown, holding a steady light. A blouse in the style of a kimono, white with pale indigo flowers, paired with ink-black hakama. This fusion of East and West was the very embodiment of this household's nature. A slender, supple frame. Her face still held traces of youth, yet her expression harbored both duty and suffering in equal measure. Her gaze fell upon her left wrist, where a faint pattern imitating the moon surfaced. It had been there since birth. The mark of being born into this house. "I must do my best today as well." The murmur was directed at no one. It was merely a weak utterance meant only to steel herself. The sound of footsteps echoed through the hallway, resonating through the old wooden structure. The mansion's timber construction had absorbed the footfalls of generations of onmyoji. Portraits lined the walls. Men with stern expressions. All of them practitioners bearing the blood of the Shimozuki line. Sakuya stopped and gazed upward at one of them. "The fourteenth head of the house." A portrait of someone from roughly a century past. With a severe countenance and eyes that seemed to harbor some secret, a gaze of profound depth. Something must have occurred during his era. Sakuya sensed it dimly. That sensation—that something important was being hidden from her. Yet she lacked the courage to ask. She arrived at the Genbu Well as the morning sun began to whiten the moss of the garden. This was the heart of the mansion. Spiritual energy from the ley lines below surged upward, dispersing across the entire imperial capital through this well. The Shimozuki family, one of the Five Great Houses, bore the responsibility of maintaining the spiritual defense of the capital centered upon this nexus point. To quell the appearance of demons and strange phenomena, to protect the human world. Such was the way of this lineage. Sakuya withdrew a talisman of Genso, wrapped in white cloth. A secret talisman of the Shimozuki house. Washi paper filtered through the water of the ley lines, inscribed with sacred words in the special ink passed down through the family. It possessed three times the purifying power of ordinary talismans. Its creation required rigorous ritual, and only some two hundred were produced annually. Three elements were necessary to activate the purification technique. The inscription of ink upon the talisman. The binding of mudras. And the chanting of sacred words. Only when these three were complete did the power of the technique release itself. "One, two, three." Sakuya began to weave intricate mudras before the talisman. A combination of minute movements from forefinger to little finger. The slightest deviation in angle would prevent the technique from activating. Sakuya repeated it carefully, again and again. The morning wind blew. The talisman slipped from her hand. It fell to the ground without sound. Sakuya's heart froze for an instant. At the sheer pathetic nature of it. At her own clumsiness. "Oh, how careless." She picked it up. Fortunately, the talisman remained unharmed. Yet a small crack had formed in Sakuya's heart. Tonight, the ritual of ley line protection would take place. In the presence of the lineage members, the ceremony would be conducted in the Tsukikage Wing, a detached building of the residence. Sakuya had been entrusted with this task. To her, who was not the formal heir. Her brother was known for his merciless severity toward demons, and her cousin, the sorcerer, had devoted himself to Western dark arts. Thus Sakuya had been chosen. Failure was not permitted. As the day progressed, Sakuya's tension mounted. In the afternoon, she devoted herself once more to training in the practice hall. Binding the same mudras hundreds of times. Chanting the sacred words hundreds of times. Until her body remembered. Until it would respond without conscious thought. A servant arrived as evening drew near. "Miss Sakuya. Final confirmation for tonight's ritual. It will be conducted before the Genbu Well, past midnight." "Understood. I am prepared." Sakuya nodded. Her voice carried a calm confidence. Yet inwardly, she wavered with anxiety. Could she truly do this? Could she truly accomplish it flawlessly? She looked up at the sky. At dusk, the western sky burned red. Beyond it, she could see dark clouds creeping closer. Thin, thread-like clouds. Ominous, inexorable. Sakuya's spine grew faintly cold. "Something will happen." She murmured. It was her sixth sense. For a practitioner who had accumulated training, the invisible sometimes became perceptible. The disturbance of ley lines. The stirring of demonic aura. And—premonition. The wind began to strengthen. The trees swayed. This was no ordinary wind. It was wind imbued with some spiritual power. Sakuya waited for night to come. Returning to her room, she began the final preparations for the ritual. She concealed multiple talismans of Genso in her sleeves. She chanted the sacred words countless times in her heart. She confirmed the binding of mudras. Outside the window, rain had begun to fall. Quietly, yet certainly. Raindrops struck the tiles with a gentle sound. That sound enveloped Sakuya like a lullaby. Rain resonates with the energy of ley lines. It summons demons. Sakuya knew this. On rainy nights, the boundary between the human world and the realm of demons grew ambiguous. She stood before the mirror. Black hair, black eyes. White with pale indigo flowers. An expression mingling tension and resolve. What was she? A daughter who was not the heir. Yet one who carried the blood of an onmyoji. She must prove that responsibility. She drew a deep breath. And released it. "Tonight, I will succeed without fail." The murmur was a promise to herself. To seize her place in this world with her own strength. A ritual to demonstrate that resolve. The sole opportunity to prove that she was needed by this house. The time had come. Sakuya left her room. Through the darkness of the hallway, toward the ritual chamber. Down the stairs. Along the passage leading before the Genbu Well. The sound of rain grew steadily louder. The darkness outside. The cold of the rain. Sakuya's body had grown rigid with tension. Yet her feet did not falter. A sense of duty propelled her forward. The Genbu Well came into view. An ancient well. A circular frame of stone. Around it, a barrier had been erected to preserve spiritual power. A net of light invisible to ordinary people. Yet Sakuya could see it. For one who had accumulated training as a practitioner. Rain wetted Sakuya's hair. Wetted her cheeks. In that coldness, she at last returned to reality. "From here, it begins." Sakuya gripped the talisman of Genso. The night was still long. The ritual would continue past midnight. What might occur during that time remained unknown. Yet Sakuya knew this: that this night would transform her life. Of that, she was certain. The story now began to move in directions unforeseen. Before the well, Sakuya raised the talisman. She bound the mudras. She chanted the sacred words. The energy of the ley lines began to flow through Sakuya's body. In that moment. A sensation—something rising from the depths of the well. Sakuya's chanting ceased. In the dark, rainy night, a pale light began to rise from the well.

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Episode 1

Name: Forbidden Love of the Onmyoji - The Demon's Bond and Ritual's End
Author: Novelia

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