Heat Lighting [Scaramouche | Reader]

24 - intruder

Everybody's talking all this stuff about my
Why don't they just let me live (Tell me why)
I don't need permission, make my own decisions (oh)
That's my prerogative (that's my prerogative)

—My Prerogative-Britney Spears—0:52—

—

"Here's a book on healing, a book on defense, a book specifically on shields, a book on waypoints, a book on elemental tracking, a book on gods, the works. Remember what I taught you about about how energy works, and—"

"That's enough, Ei," Yae put her hand on Ei's shoulders to calm the frantic woman.

Her purple hair was standing on end. The sopor she had woken up from this morning was still present in her eyes where liquid began to leak. The Shogun stared at me with a bizarrely sad gaze, the normal stoic expression on her face had been null since she stayed with Yae at the shrine. She heaved a sigh and placed her hands on my shoulders.

"Promise me you'll be okay, please," She looked around my face for visual cues.

I smiled softly at the woman, "I promise, m- Shogun."

The Raiden Shogun shook her head, "Call me Ei, remember?"

Yae smirked behind her, "Or just big sis."

Ei smacked the woman, but nodded at her words. I chuckled a little bit, some nostalgia coming to mind as I gazed at the two women. My eyes were slowly starting to water with the thoughts of my mother, so I quickly wrapped both Yae and Ei in a hug before they could see my tears. However, this was a failed attempt at hiding my emotions, because my voice came out like I was underwater.

"I'm gonna miss you guys, you know that," I mumbled into their chests, "thank you."

Their arms wrapped tightly around me and I felt one of them press a kiss to my hair.

"We're going to miss you too, [name]. Don't ever forget that."

Ei smiled through her words, so warm and comforting that when we finally let go of each other I felt the chilling breeze from the north. The unfamiliar feeling caught me off guard and I suppressed the thrum of my heartbeat in that moment. My hand wrapped around the strap of my bag and I waved at the Yae. Ei waved her hand at me and the world then started to flicker, flecks of light streaking through my vision before I began to see Watatsumi Island, and Sangonomiya Shrine.

The stone of the Grand Narukami Shrine disappeared and was replaced with that of Sangonomiya, and the cold wind that had been blowing through the mountains was replaced with a humidity hanging in the air. Behind me I could faintly hear goodbyes, yet there were no hellos in front. An eerie silence slinked through the normally busy walkway to the shrine. No one was around, not even a single shrine maiden. The soldiers were all absent and there were no villagers at the doors even in the bright daylight of the Watatsumi sun.

I pushed open the entrance and inside it was also, surprisingly, empty. It was perplexing. Why was no one in the shrine?

"Hello," I called out cautiously, "Kokomi? General Gorou? Nozomi?"

My fingers lightly tugged at the edges of my Inazuman top, the maple and koi fish design  crinkling up in the fabric. My breath was beginning to get heavy, audible panic being expressed with my body language. There was always someone here, someone. I was too busy with my thoughts that the soft footsteps around me went unnoticed.

"Well who are you?" A coy voice spoke from behind me.

I spun around and met with an unfamiliar face: auburn hair, green eyes with moles underneath them, pale skin and a raised eyebrow. He was clad in a white sleeveless shirt with black and dark yellow shorts, his arms and legs covered in sleek black armor. Red sandals clung to his feet and a jacket and a sword hung from his waist.