SCENE: Sachiko’s Ambition

It all began with an innocent question.

"Aunt Mirabelle, what's the 'Ritual of Everlast'?"

Aunt Mirabelle's feather quill stops in midair, stealing a sideways glance at the young auburn-haired girl awaiting her answer.

Young Sachiko's tiny hands are fistfully clasped in front of her chest, expectantly looking up at the much larger and far more adult Aunt Mirabelle with a determined look on her face.

Aunt Mirabelle's non-writing hand had already risen up to the slight throbbing pain on the side of her forehead. Where did this question come from...? The old man hasn't been telling strange stories again, has he? In any case, she had to choose her words carefully.

"Well. That... It's a powerful spell..."

"Yes...?"

The young red haired sorceress-to-be leans even closer to the sitting Aunt Mirabelle, hoping to gleam more details of this possibly explosive nugget of magickal information.

"Usually performed by a member of the [Sunset Family]... to... to..."

A sweatdrop rolls down the side of Aunt Mirabelle's face, as does the quill frozen in midair drips black onto the table parchments.

"... to join two souls together."

As Aunt Mirabelle says those words, a crack of thunder rips the sky outside the mansion, and in the brief illuminating flash preceding it, Young Sachiko's ambition fully presented itself on its face. It was not a twisted, greedy ambition; but rather one brimming with guiltless glee of a young child discovering something new.

"Amazing...! So it's a reverse of [Soul Splinter]...!" And the next words that invariably came out of the sorceress-to-be's mouth were;

"Can I learn it for myself?"

There is a slight commotion as Aunt Mirabelle half-falls out of her chair, dignity be damned, because all that careful maneuvering was for naught! Crawling back up to level with with young Sachiko, the half-kneeling Aunt Mirabelle forces an exasperated smile, like one trying to impart the secrets of the universe, and yet trying her best to hide them at the same time.

"... it's a Sunset family spell. You need to be an accomplished sorceress yourself first, young lady."

"Why?"

"You need to be... strong enough first."

"Are the sorceresses of the Sunset family... strong?"

"Obviously."

The proud sorceress throws her long dark red hair back with one hand, many a moon had passed since she had to do anything to prove that she was 'strong', so being able to show it off to a young child was a special treat. At this moment, their understandings of the word strong had separated into two different dirt paths, each leading into pretty forking and yabai territory!

"Can I perform the ritual with you?"

"No.", answers Aunt Mirabelle rather curtly.

Young Sachiko tilts her head in puzzlement. Supporting an upright elbow while fingers run over her lips, she ponders over the strange requirements of the ritual.

"... ...! Oh! I got it!"

"You seem to have reached some sort of revelation, young lady."

"As I am now, I can't perform the ritual...", young Sachiko continues,

"... so what I should do--- is be an accomplished sorceress...!"

"Only then, will I be able to enter the Sunset family!"

"Well, that's one way to look at it," Aunt Mirabelle chuckles, not realizing the extent of young Sachiko's resolution,

"When I become a Sunset, I'll perform the ritual with Old Man Sunset!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOO-----!!!!!"

Aunt Mirabelle practically leaps from her half kneeling position on the floor, almost flipping the table she was writing on over. Eyes popping out in shock at young Sachiko's innocent, yet outrageous ambition.

"...??? Did I say something wrong?"

"You, you can't...!"

"If it's a power thing, I'll work hard to obtain magickal power! That's what being an 'accomplished sorceress' is, right...?"

"... just like Oración and Lourdus Sunset!"

Aunt Mirabelle slaps her forehead loudly, realizing the font of all those strange notions young Sachiko had been entertaining.

"Training to be a sorceress is all and well, but don't take those old stories seriously."

Having found the culprit to her headaches, she rises to her feet and dusts her long skirt off, restoring the dignity to her posture.

"Work hard, young lady, and you will surely be rewarded."

Taking a deep breath, Aunt Mirabelle cracks her knuckles, eyes closed and cursed smile painted on her face, signaling the end of the conversation.

"I have my own 'questions' to ask the old man, so run along now~"

Nodding with newfound courage, Young Sachiko takes Aunt Mirabelle's lack of a hard rebuke as tacit approval for her very yabai ambition. Dashing out the door, she completely misses the point! Even in our common bedroom we could hear Aunt Mirabelle shouting "Old bastard, get out here THIS INSTANT!" through the thick wooden doors.

The next day, we found the old man in front of the fireplace, arms crossed and having to kneel there through the night as punishment, completely, absolutely and totally bewildered at what he (didn't) do.

References

[Sunset Family] - An old family that dates back to the Princess Wars. Their domain is on Bylon Island, but family members are scattered all over the New Continent acting as pallbearers, undertakers and performing rituals for the deceased. The Sunset family also runs an orphanage on Bylon Island.

[Soul Splinter] - Oración's specialty spell in [Sorceress and the Sunset]. Usually used in offensive combat by the Witch of the Beginning, has long since fallen into disuse due to development of more efficient and less self-destructive ways of using menne for combat.