"I cannot believe she revived herself just to end up protecting him! And we almost had him too!!"
Chiyasu was almost yelling, kicking the dust beneath her feet in her territory, where she and Reiha decided to rest and plan ahead but there was nothing to plan for, what had just transpired was beyond their wildest imagination… the dead queen they have been waiting for her power to reawaken and were fighting in her name and for the sake of avenging her had just come back to life, and against the natural rules, two queens of light were walking down the same earth at the same era.
"If she was truly capable of reviving herself, she would have done this centuries ago… her power are still present and were freely roaming waiting for the right person… something else had triggered this…"
"And the first thing she opts to do is pissing us off, just like old times!!"
While Chiyasu was shouting and kicking aimlessly, Reiha sat on a stone tending to her wounds which were healing slowly. Finally, she raised her head and looked at the princess of the earth.
"Hearing all your big talk about wanting to kill her and going after an innocent girl merely for obtaining her power, one would think you would have killed her right then and there."
The addressed woman finally stood in one spot, ceasing her circling and kicking. She huffed and defended herself.
"Are you kidding me? That woman is nothing like the one I want to kill! She is just a shell of her former self… if she can be even called that..."
"You did not use this logic when you decided on killing Ayumi."
"Do you want to pick a fight with me? Is this what you want, really?!"
Chiyasu was so agitated and ready to start a fight though she was as powerless as Reiha after that journey and battle, but the scene of the resurrected queen and seeing the face of the woman who wronged her looking with vacant peace directly at her churned fire inside of the earth princess like a woman who was high on a hundred energy drinks. Reiha's return to silence and tending to herself irritated Chiyasu as much as her questions did so she poked her this time with the stick.
"What now? Rinmaru had come back as well... Why?"
"Nothing."
Reiha answered the first half of the question, ignoring the rest and Chiyasu's focus was all poured at the resurrected woman, so she did not notice the incomplete reply.
"What do you mean nothing?"
"I just believe I know you why you did nothing. You could not even bear opening the casket."
"Oh… do you not know everything!"
The princess of the earth sneered in a mockery laced with anger.
"You do not have to get all angry about it, it is quite normal in the end… it is the right thing."
"What is normal? What is the right thing?!"
Reiha sighed in boredom in response to Chiyasu's seething, but she knew the latter would actually go into another fit of rage if she did not answer, a fit she was not prepared mentally or physically to deal with.
"It is quite a normal, rightful thing to wish not to desecrate your sibling's grave… and seeing her revive must have been shocking… a dear person you last saw lying dead, your relationship bouncing on a tight thread… and then… there she is again…"
Three roots surrounded Reiha, stopping right at her throat, but the princess of the wind remained still and unfazed.
"Do not go around believing you know and understand everything… and if you dare say that word again, I will…"
"Then stop acting like a child and calm down. Besides, you or me not addressing this fact does not erase it."
The roots vibrated for a while before they were withdrawn and Chiyasu sat down on crossed legs, puffing her anger out through taught breaths.
"I am calm, so what do we do? Was it truly a good idea to leave the dead queen with that idiot?"
Reiha hid her smile at Chiyasu's childish antics and her poor attempts at concealing her apparent concern about the queen's safety despite stating otherwise.
"Well, both the spear and the specter are there and they can help protect both queens and perhaps aid Amaterasu in recalling some of her memories."
Chiyasu did not seem convinced, her upside down twisted lips indicated that much, so Reiha went on.
"Once we heal properly, even if we do not, we can respond to Ayumi's call… we should focus on finding a way to deal appropriately with the situation."
"Yeah, who knows how that crazy woman will react if she saw another being taking her place?"
Chiyasu returned to her usual self, sneering like a cat, as if once the queen regains her memories an amusing show will unfold.
Reiha, on the other hand, looked actually worried over that idea. They had to do something but what exactly? Kill the woman again?
"Once we heal, let's go back to Norico's shrine and visit her old temples, maybe we will be lucky enough to stumble upon some left clues."
Reiha proposed and although Chiyasu found the idea good, she could not help herself from continuing on with her mockery.
"I doubt even Norico with all her spiritual insight and power could have been able to predict something like this!"
"Indeed."
Reiha agreed grimly, another worrying thought taking over her. Noticing the change in her expression, Chiyasu threw a little rock at the wind princess to awaken her from her reverie.
"What was that for?"
"What are you thinking about?"
Reiha did not say a thing for a while, but her inability to detect the flying rock indicated she was either far more injured and drained than what she'd been letting on, or that whatever her mind was occupied with was of great importance. At last, the princess of the wind spoke
"Noboru seems different…"
"How? He is the same… he has always been calm and collective. Not a man who made a ruckus in his triumph and battles."
"Not that…"
Reiha shook her head then pondered for another short while before continuing.
"His power… his aura… even after losing to Noriko… they are radiating differently…"
"You mean more strongly than before? I noticed this too… it has to be because he succeeded in killing the previous queen and breaking the seal…"
"Not just stronger… his aura is more darker… like pure darkness without a shred of light… a night without a single star… it did not use to be this way…"
Reiha shrugged again trying to convey what she felt but Chiyasu could only partly follow what Reiha was saying.
"I could not tell and I do not care. Once I destroy him along with Amaterasu, everything will be over."
Reiha eyed the princess of the earth who sprayed herself on the ground like a lazy frog, closing her eyes and concentrating on healing herself after circling back to her threats and vengeful plans.
A night without a single star, Noboru's current dark aura was even more sinister and bleak than Laila's and the later was the princess of the darkness.