The Groundhog Sees Its Shadow

Life, Supernatural

Somewhere in Japan, through a hidden portal deep below an ancient shrine, a long-departed evil returned once again. Hashinara Yoshitakatomo led Carmilla through the gateway by the hand as she breathed her first lungful of Earth's air. The white-haired maiden's expression did not change. Her eyes flitted to and fro, as though seeing a myriad of images the daimyō was not fit to witness. However, she followed along with only the barest of urging from her guide.

"There are...many more here...many more..." she breathed.   Yoshitakatomo stopped, examined the floor around them, and then turned her gaze back to Carmilla. Had the spell affecting her been weakened by their transition into this plane? She reached out with careful hands and felt the mesh beyond sight. Fortunately, Lord of Fools was still intact, granting the daimyō control over the other's insanity.   "Hmm..." Yoshitakatomo mused. "You've never been here, Carmilla?"   "Where is this...?" she answered without looking.   "It seems you've regained some sanity."   The words hung in the air for a long moment. Carmilla did not answer.   "I suppose there is no use in attempting to keep this a secret from you." Was Yoshitakatomo smiling beneath her mask? "This is where I was born."   "...I...I can hear you...almost..."   The princess-daimyō started. "You can almost hear me?"   "They're...they're quieter, here..." was all that Carmilla could offer by way of explanation.   "Hm. Quieter, but with curious questions. I wonder...was there someone else in there speaking to me?" The princess' mask stared silently at Carmilla, but elicited no response this time. A sound echoed out through the underground chamber, but Yoshitakatomo found herself so focused with Carmilla's eyes that she paid it no mind.   "I...he...so many..." Yoshitakatomo couldn't help but sigh. These were the same ramblings Carmilla had muttered in the Dreamlands. Even a great scholar who had died twice and lived again could not decipher any meaning from them. Perhaps Carmilla herself was undead. But no, she appeared human except for the overwhelming sense of presence and thought which emanated from her shivering body.   "Follow me," Yoshitakatomo said even as she called Shigeaki Fujino to take them from the temple. As she turned around, however, her foot brushed against something. The remains of tangled rope and paper seemed to have fallen from the broken Sesshō Seki, which had never left this accursed room. They did not seem to have been moved by a human hand, but looked at from this angle, the coils seemed to have formed a definite pattern. It looked like some manner of rune, glyph, or symbol, although not one which Yoshitakatomo personally recognized. More likely, it was some manner of religious symbol. It appeared almost like a robe or cloak, coiled around itself.   Yoshitakatomo picked up a shred of paper, then focused magic into her eyes beneath the mask, enhancing her vision. Even so, the sheaf was uninteresting. This was the usual kind of ritual paper affixed to sacred rocks or trees. Only the barest trace of magic still clung to it, likely from the Killing Stone itself. No signs of tampering existed elsewhere in the room either. It was as though the wind had simply brushed these things off the fractured stone and into this pattern. Except that there was no wind here, underground...   Perhaps Carmilla's very presence had broken some manner of seal. A bite of anger rose up through her at this potential misstep.   "We must return. I have a need to speak with someone before we continue on." With that, Yoshitakatomo took Carmilla by the hand, not unkindly, and guided her back through the portal to the Dreamlands. She set off at a brisk pace, eyes set on Mount Ngranek now towering over them. However, no amount of physical or supernatural urging could get Carmilla to move at anything beyond a gliding stroll.   "This will not do," she muttered, then considered a different approach. Turning toward the mountain, she spread her hands and spoke into them:   "Nodens-dono, I have come to slowly trust your word and knowledge. Your warnings of this realm foundered in my ears when you spoke, but now I take them as guidance heavy to bear. With that said, I would like to seek counsel in person, along with an entity I encountered by mere chance."   With a gust of magic, Yoshitakatomo's Message flitted into the air and vanished beyond the sky. Nothing happened for a time. Then, leathery wings beat upon the air as a Night-gaunt descended and gazed upon Yoshitakatomo with its featureless face.   "The entity is Carmilla," she finished.