Neko waded through the reflection pool she had been in when Tenshi had betrayed her trust earlier. This should have been a happy occasion, but she found herself fighting back tears almost as soon as she had left Mi-chan on the bank. The unpleasant memory with Tenshi was the last straw, and she began to cry for what seemed like the millionth time today.
*What's wrong with you?!* she scolded herself. *Just do the stupid ritual, and everything will be fine!*
She looked down into the water, searching for a sign of the koi she'd been so enchanted by earlier. But instead, her reflection caught her eye. It wasn't normal. Instead of the torn outfit she was currently wearing, her reflection was wearing a pretty deep pink dress. It didn't look like anything Mi-chan would ever wear, so she could only figure that it was somehow meant for her. She didn't know how, but it seemed to be another piece of her identity.
She gazed down at the girl in the dress. She wasn't so strange. Kinda familiar even. "Neko?" she whispered.
Perhaps her dizziness from her earlier fight had finally caught up to her, but suddenly, she felt as if the world had begun to spin a little too fast. She closed her eyes and tried to keep from falling as everything turned upside down.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Mi-chan, Tenshi, and Jasper all cried out for Neko as she vanished from the center of the lake. But as they all started towards the pool, Tenshi came to a realization. "No, it's the ritual," she yelled at them from the other side of the pool, causing them to halt their dash towards it.
Her suspicion was supported as each of the stones seemed to vanish in a flash of light a little later. And she wasn't sure, but she thought she could see the reflection of not one, but two moons in the pool. She would blame it on a trick of the light, except one was only partially full.
She prayed to anyone who was listening. *Please let Koneko be alright. Please give her memories back! She deserves to be happy. Just return her to herself!*
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Neko opened her eyes as her dizziness passed. Somehow she seemed to have remained on her feet. But things seemed different now.
She was now wearing the dress her reflection had had. She looked down to see if another Neko was staring back at her in a torn blouse and skirt, but no reflection was there at all. "Wh- Where am I?" she wondered nervously.
She looked around, but couldn't see Mi-chan, Jasper, or even Tenshi anywhere around. A moment of panic hit her at the thought of being alone again. She quickly observed that other things had changed.
The stones that she and her companions had fought so hard to obtain shimmered merely as spots of light at the four compass points. And when she looked to the sky, there were two moons rather than one.
*They aren't even the same. Only one's full. Does that mean that I can't do the ritual?* Mi-chan had said that she needed a full moon for the ritual. But one of these was only a little more than a first quarter moon. You need to do it tonight because you need a full moon. That was what she had said, so tonight had to be the night to do it then.
She gazed back down at the reflectionless water. She wondered again about the Neko who should be on the other side. If the one in the dress was supposed to be the real one, then perhaps the other didn't exist at all. She must have disappeared because Neko was on her way to becoming herself again.
*This is it. I can get back my memories right now! I can go back to who I was! I can-* She stopped. The person she used to be had been madly (and she meant it in the most negative of ways) in love with Tenshi. Did she really want to go back to that? To someone who apparently couldn't see what a horrible person Tenshi was? Mi-chan had said she wouldn't care. Even Jasper had told her she would go back to Tenshi. That she'd forget him, not even bother with him. How could she do that to him?
*No! I have to do this!* What was she thinking, considering other possibilities? This wasn't a choice; it was something she was supposed to want. And of course she wanted to become herself.
She looked up at the sky. "I want to be myself," she stated with resolve to the moons, in case they were listening in and needed confirmation as much as she did.
Neko took a deep breath, and tried to get control of her emotions. It was time to do the ritual. She'd get her memories back and all these doubts would just go away.
*Just disappear as I go back to Mizuno Neko�.*
"Onegai, kami of the forest, hear my plea. Kami of the mountain, transmit my wish," she repeated what Mi-chan had told her to say. She had to call upon the kami of the forest and the mountain to get her message through, but her main concern was with her Guardian Eryx, who apparently was all the way out there where Tenshi had shown her the night before. That's why it supposedly took so much energy. But only that being could reach into the depths of her soul and restore her memories. "Guardian Eryx, grant me what I desire. Find it within yourself to return what has been stolen from me. Four hearts beat together in one and ask for this gift."
As she spoke, she saw the lights float into the pool, where the glow began to spread. She felt it as the light reached her in the center and seemingly faded away as it permeated her skin. The four hearts were symbolized by the stones, which were the lights on this plane of existence. She could feel them - they all wanted her to succeed. Even Jasper, though she couldn't imagine why. Her mind returned to her previous question - how could she do that to�?
She shook her head to clear it of all those thoughts. She had to finish the ritual. She had to!
"Guardian Eryx, the soul of your servant, Mizuno Neko, cries out for you to grant her what rightfully belongs to her. Her memories have remained veiled for too long. Restore her so that she may embody you someday, as the rightful heir to your throne."
She understood now the energy transfer the mountain kami had spoken of. She was beginning to feel a little drained. But Neko knew she couldn't give up. Not now that she was so close. She prepared herself, ready for some kind of transformation as she spoke the final words of the ritual. "Onegai. Restore your daughter: Eryx!"
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