The trio rechecked their stock of items as they headed out. They'd spent nearly every last penny they could muster to gather as many supplies as they could before heading out. If the Shrine was as dangerous as Hiromi had warned, Umi felt, and Ayuka had suggested, then they would need every last bit of provision as they needed. They stopped at the back gates of the school to compile everything and check their main provisions. Other than food, equipment, and accessories, they were carrying 29 Potions, 4 Quality Potions, 6 Smelling Salts, 15 Mana Waters, 1 Mana Nectar, 1 Mana Syrup, and 18 Charm Colognes, not to mention the Brave Juices and Calm Juices they'd bought.

They definitely had a lot in their inventory. They had gotten a lot of training done lately as well. Hitoshi had done three different assignments for Professor Moriko, they'd trained a lot at the beach, and they fought through a lot of monsters throughout the entire trip, from Rivercrabs in the Training Course to the Dire Eagles from Genbu Mountain. They were much, much stronger than they were before, and they had a lot of new equipment, thanks to those Chests they found on Genbu Mountain. Not seeing anyplace else they could train outside of the Shrine's forest, they figured they were about as ready as they were ever going to be. Putting their provisions away, they marched forward, heading to the fork that led towards the Shrine.

After cutting around a few corners in the forest, they came to a path to the right, blocked off by a huge, dead tree. Looking around it, they thought they could see some sort of building back on the path, but unfortunately, they couldn't get past the tree. Not even a well-placed Fire spell would be able to knock this thing out. Shrugging their shoulders, they saw a small box nearby, where Hitoshi procured a small yellow orb, called a Mustard Bomb. It was a flash-inducing weapon used to blind enemies. Pocketing it, they moved onward, seeing a path to the right, which led to the shrine.

The area around the shrine was quite filled with nature and buildings, and quite beautiful. A stone path led to the shrine itself, surrounded by tall stone pillars, pink-toned trees, and small ponds of water, here and there, adorned with lily-pads. There was also a path to the East, next to the base of the stone path, which looked to head into the huge forest that lied that way. That must have been where the Mikos spent their time, training. Taking a look at once another, they slowly walked forward, clenching the pockets that contained the three crystal-like objects, hoping they were ready for whatever was waiting for them, inside.

At the front of the main building was what looked like an offering box between two open doors, each with curtains above them and wooden signs with foreign symbols on them. They walked past this box and slowly made their way through the left-side door, making their way inside. The inside of the shrine looked quite roomy, actually. There were wooden walls around and two sets of mats that were set out, each with cushions for the mikos to sit on. A stone tablet was at the back, and lining the wall corners were beautiful, potted flowers. In a large mat in the middle of the room stood 6 woman, dressed in red-and-white uniforms. These were clearly the mikos. They all had their eyes on the three of them, as if they were watching them. Although Lady Hosoki wasn't present, they approached the Miko in the front, whom wore an eyepatch over her left eye.

Sei was a little confused as to why they were all just gathered in one place and watching them. Watching the woman's short, silvery hair flowing in the breeze that flew through the room, he started their important conversation, trying to be polite for once. “Excuse me, ladies. We didn't get you at a bad time, did we? You all look as if you were in the middle of something.” He had a serious look on his face, as did the rest of them. This proved that even Sei could become serious when the situation headed in that direction.

The white-haired miko took a momentary before saying anything. Much to their surprise, she spoke of not being in the middle of anything important. “...no, it's quite alright. We were getting ready to clean the place up. Are you just passing through, or can I help you with something?” Hitoshi was realizing that things seemed to be going fine thus far. Finding no other place to start from, he pulled out the crystals they'd been given. “Actually, maybe you could help us. Do you recognize these?” Holding his hands out, he showed them to the woman.

Showing that she did, indeed, recognize them, the miko got a surprised look on her face. “Oh! Where did you find those? Normal people, like yourselves, should not be carrying those around, you know.” Seeing the conversation slowly progressing itself, Tarou felt it was his time to interject into the conversation. “Lady Hosoki from atop Genbu Mountain informed us that were we to present you with these crystals, you would be able to help us understand something very urgent and crucial.”

Wanting to rush things along, Hitoshi came forward about the reason they were there. “Let's not split hairs or anything. All of you know something about the disappearances that have taken place at our academy over the years. I'm not certain whose side you're on or what you're trying to accomplish with these crystals and your deity, but if it's alright with you, we will skip the 'small talk'.” All of the mikos then turn and take a quick glance at the stone tablet at the back of the shrine before turning back to the three of them, with a response, as if being accused of something. “Goodness, that sounds rathor accusatory. You're right, we do know what happened to your fellow students, and yes, those crystals can indeed show you exactly what it was. The fact of the matter, though, is that we are quite busy right now.”

Not wanting to take no for an answer, Tarou came forward and tried to continue their conversation before the mikos got 'busy' with the cleaning they were about to do. “Forgive our forwardness, but we simple cannot leave this place without an answer. Our current and future students could be at grave risk. Maybe we can work together to solve this problem.” He was trying to as forward as he could, while still remaining polite and expressing a willingness to assist them in whatever will solve the disappearances and whatever it is about this supposed deity of theirs.

The silver-haired woman got a smile on her face and was starting to agree with Tarou. “Indeed. You say that Hoski told you to come here with the crystals? I understand, then. Well, listen carefully. Your students have been disappearing because the Red Queen does yet fully exist in this universe.” They were finally getting somewhere, hearing about the same deity Ms. Hosoki had mentioned atop the mountain. Sei came forward, wanting to know more about this “Red Queen”. “Alright, my one-eyed beauty. Who is this Red Queen and what does she have to do with people that are vanishing out of thin air?”

Calmly, the miko continued. “The Red Queen is our patron deity, our protector. Once she is present in the world, there will be no more vanishing people. Well, vanishing isn't quite the right word behind it.” She stopped for a moment, trying to think of how, exactly to explain this to them. Shaking her head, however, she just continued by speaking that the process was complicated and that the crystal were the key to all that was going on.

Hitoshi, trying to understand, stepped forward with his interpretation. “So, these crystals are used to revive your goddess, and once that is accomplished, no one else will disappear? Why are they disappearing, to begin with?” The man was quite curious, and had the right to be. This was a very serious issue and they were giving them rather vague answers. They'd prefer exact details, rather than “It's complicated.”. Bringing on more vague answers, the mikos responded to him, with a simle “Because she's not here yet...”

Tarou stepped forward, bringing a more in-depth conversation afoot, talking about the crystals. “These crystals of void of any power, like a vacuum of space yearning to be filled. Do not take us for fools. What is their true purpose? Surely, somehow, you are able to charge them with something.” Keeping up the calm attitude, they continued. “...Indeed, we are charging those crystals and using them to revive our goddess. It is for the good of the world. In fact, your idea of working together has come at a good time.”

They weren't getting very many answers, and now it sounded like they were about to be sent on another errand, instead of getting any straight answers. Hitoshi winced and asked what sort of thing they were suggesting. “Those crystals you carry are rare. However, their origin is from the Seiryuu Forest, to the east of our shrine. In the forest is an entity, whom guards a large cache of them. This cache would be enough that all of the disappearances could come to a halt as soon as tomorrow.”

Sei knew what they were asking, and made it clear that they were about to be sent into the forest after these crystals. “By that, you mean there's enough crystals in the forest to give you the capability of reviving your Red Queen...and you want the three of us to go get them, right?” They weren't exactly the dumbest students around. They could see where this conversation was going quite clearly. The miko could do nothing but agree with him. “That's right. We would fetch them ourselves, but we must reamin here, at the shrine. Ma-...Lady Hosoki has been gathering them for us in our stead, but with your help we may yet bring our goddess forth. Then, the disappearances will end.”

They weren't exactly liking the way this was going, but Tarou came forward, trying to get confirmation from these mikos. “...and we have your word that after you've summoned this deity, everything will be solved? What, exactly, do you plan to do once she exists on this plane?” Not giving them the answer Tarou was expecting, they said “Nothing. She will merely reside her as a sage and protector, giving us guidance. If she deems that no one else should...disappear, then no one else will. Her revival is your only hope.”

Crossing his arms, Hitoshi agreed to their terms, on his own conditions. “Alright, we'll play ball. However, when we bring you these crystals, I want to see everything. I want to see, firsthand, how you charge these things, and how your Goddess is going to be revived.” The miko grins a little further and agrees to his terms. “So be it. You will see it. I wish you godspeed in fining the crystals. You must be careful in the forest. Students from your academy don't go in there. It is quite dangerous.”

Within moments, the three of them had left to go outside, on their new mission. At the bottom of the 'porch' of the shrine, Tarou stopped. “I'm sure it goes without saying, but this doesn't feel right. I do not trust them.” Sei agreed, finally getting his ego back. “Right. Though, for being so cold, that eye-patch was kind of sexy.” Finally, Hitoshi came into the conversation. “Look, I don't enjoy the idea of getting involved with this bunch, either. However, if we don't do something, we never going to figure out any of this.”

Agreeing with this, Sei got serious for a moment. “That's right. In the Worst-case scenario, they try to back-stab us. All we need to do is be ready for it. Besides, we'll be the ones holding the crystals and, therefore, their trump cards.” Tarou shook his head. “Nonetheless, they still did not explain why the phenomena of disappearances was happening, in the first place. We must remain on guard.” The three each took deep breaths as they walked away from the shrine and towards the entrance to the forest....