Infinitum Crystals - The Snow Phoenix [2]

Chapter 2.15 - Ethereal - The Shrine of The Mikazuki

As we lay bare in front of the burned down shrine, some of the leaves on the trees fell down and was blown away by the wind. White was still recuperating from his recent fight against The Chaos Shogun, Kitsuneki. He was almost about to be eviscerated by the Shogun's chaotic magic but I jumped in just in the nick of time. White seems to be restless from the way he was making his face. He was probably agitated about what Kitsuneki had told him. After hearing everything from White, I can see why he would be in this state. His old friend would end up on the other side because of his own fault and he has nothing to fix that up.

I decided to open up a topic, "Hey, White. Do you know this place?"

White looked around and said, "Some burnt down shrine?"

"It's not just any other shrine. It has its story. This was the once great Shrine of the Mikazuki. In our language, it is The Shrine of The Crescent Moon."

"Crescent Moon...isn't that the same name as that blade?"

"It is and it came from this shrine, right here. The government had recovered the blade when it was lost several years ago..."

"So it's a treasure from this shrine? What happened here, anyway?"

"I'll tell you..." I sat on the stairs as I begun wiping my rifle and said, "Like many other shrine, it is a place regarded as holy because of its associations with a divinity or a sacred person or relic, usually marked by a building or other construction. A place to worship a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon or similar figure of awe and respect, at which they are venerated or worshipped."

"So what's so special about this shrine?"

"As its name was stated, this shrine was made to worship the Crescent Moon that only comes twice in a month. Even so, it's not like this shrine was only exclusive to a single phase of the moon. It's just that the crescent moon was so special because of how beautiful it was. The clear whiteness of its curve and the darkness surrounding it makes it one of the most beautiful sights in the night."

"Why are they worshipping the moon? It's not like it does something to us, right?" said White.

"Don't you know that the moon controls the tide of the sea? The moon is responsible for most of the tides through its gravitational attraction of the ocean. It is almost like..."

"Magic...and science.

"True...hence why this shrine was made, without the moon, the tides won't change and fishes won't come to nearby beaches as often as it supposed to. People will be hungry. The moon has blessed us with the foods of the ocean. It synergies well together with The Ocean Goddess."

White suddenly brought out an interesting question, "Hey Ethereal, do you think The Ocean Goddess is the same as The Sea God?"

I gave his question a thought and said, "Well apart from their gender, I don't think there is much of a difference between those two. We don't even know if The Sea God is actually a humanoid creature, though..."

"From what I gathered, The Sea God is a dragon. A water dragon...I wonder...what would happen if they meet?"

"It might be a good thing or a bad thing."

White then laughed and said, "It'll happen in time, I'm sure."

"What do you mean, White?"

"Let's just say, I know a lot about those two..."

Although he sounded cryptic, I believed it was best for me to move on and continue the story of the shrine.

"In any case, we were talking about what happened with the shrine, correct? Well, one day, the leader of the shrine maidens had brought out the Mikazuki Blade that suddenly appeared the night before..."