Canticle: Code Caligula

Chapter 34: Wishes of an Ant, Part 1

The human girl looked at Mura with a naïve smile. Mura in turn mirrored her expression.

"I heard about the tragic murders recently on the news and, well... I felt called to pray for those poor girls," Mura explained to her. "I asked a man nearby and he said a kind girl named Hangaku Amano could help me?"

"Oh certainly, sir! Right this way."

Amano led Mura towards what looked to him like a long sink, making sure to turn to confirm he was still following her. Once they reached the sink, she held out her hand towards the water flowing from bamboo pipes.

"The chozuya is here, sir. Let me know if you need anything else."

"Thank you kindly..."

Mura smiled as Amano walked away before turning to look at the water.

"You know what that's for, right?" Lilith asked.

"No, what? Washing your hands or something?"

"Idiot! It's for purifying your sins! Don't you guys have similar customs in Yomi?"

"Well, duh! But I never paid attention to that kind of thing. I'm not the type for gods of any kind."

Mura starred at the water in the basin before eyeing a cup immersed within. Wanting to grab the cup so as not to look suspicious, he reached into the water. The moment he did, the flesh on his hand turned a painful red across the submerged area. A scalding agony flared across his nerves as if he dipped his hands into boiling oil.

"Shit, what the—!?" Mura screamed out, silencing himself before regaining self-control.

He cradled his hand to ease the pain, taking a look to assess the damage. Sure enough, the water had left him with a nasty burn. It wasn't anything too serious, but the skin ached furiously nevertheless.

"What just happened?! Did she attack you?" Lilith said in a confused yet worried voice.

"No... I don't think so. I didn't sense any Tamashiryoku from her when we met and I haven't still. Even Shuten gave off a pulse when he attacked me," Mura noted. "I haven't felt right since I stepped through that gate, to be honest."

"Makes sense. It's a Shinto shrine after all. As long as we're within the confines of this place, you're in a plane protected by whatever kami took residence here. I guess a lot of precautions have been made to ward off demons... just never thought they worked when I was alive."

Without warning, someone ahead of them pulled down on a large braided rope. As they let go, a loud thunderous bell rang out: its reverberations being felt throughout the entire shrine.

The echoes shot through Mura's body like gunfire. The chimes were all he could hear, deafening everything around him. His heart felt numb as his internal organs vibrated with such savagery Mura thought they had been reduced to gelatin.

"Aaaguaahhh!!" Mura screamed out, his own voice distorting into an unnatural scraping noise like knives being sharpened.

Lilith quickly dragged him away as others looked on curiously and in disgust; thinking the man was being disrespectful. Mura writhed as he was escorted from of the area through another gate.

"Mura! What's happening to you?! Are you okay?!" Lilith cried, catching her friend's convulsing body as he collapsed to the solitary path they escaped to.

The demon shook and flopped like a fish wrenched from the ocean, gasping futilely. His face turned pale and moments after, he vomited onto the long grass beside him.