The Day of Thunder

"These people have only been here five years, but the places, the buildings... a lot of it is much older."

"What? That's not right. I spent a trip bringing them more building supplies. Mind, the estate last night seemed a bit larger than I remember..."

“You sure it’s this village you came to?” She asked.

"I followed the same route I did four years ago. I think. Mind, the wheels breaking in the forest, I suppose I might have veered to the side. But, I don't think so."

Sora arched an eyebrow.

"Might want to stroll into town, see if anyone remembers you."

Kyosei's brow furls a bit. He thinks back. "I thought the servants looked familiar, but at the same time, none of them gave any indication of recognition last night. So, if this is not the village I remember, what is it?"

"Home until Shinsei's latest master plan has played out..."

Sora chuckled.

"And this time, I'm not getting picked. Lucky me!"

"The crow is here?! Oh, by the muddy sides of the mountains...This is it, isn't it? But, if so, why are you and I here? Neither of us is exactly going to be of massive use in a big conflict, are we?"

Huan speaks up, "If it's not what you remember, If it's younger than what it appears to be, if all of our dreams are being impacted by whatever is happening..."

He looks at his hand.

"Are we not awake? Are we asleep and being lied to by the dream?"

"Nah, if this were a dream my wife and kids would be here..."

"A nightmare is a bad dream," Huan points out. "If the barrier between the realm of dreams and the mortal realm is gone in this place we may be battling to keep ourselves firmly within the realm of mortals."

“I’m sorry to be like the dolt here… but what exactly does that mean for us? I’m acting like this is reality until something shows me that I shouldn’t be.” She asked with a bit of confusion.

"My point is that I've been thinking that this might be both reality and a dream. I'm capable of strengthening and weakening the void in an area, creating places where the substance of the void is stronger or weaker. So... would it be impossible for a supernatural entity connected to jigoku, yume-do or both to do so for those realms? You would all literally be able to feel it if I modified the area, and I would be able to describe the sensations in a general sense. But for everyone who isn't tied to the void they wouldn't necessarily understand why or how they felt it. So I wonder, are the difficulties and issues surrounding sleep and dreams a similar effect from a different source? I'm just trying to work through what may be the case based on understanding some strange magics I know I am capable of," he explains, not focusing on anyone in particular, basically thinking out loud.

"I mean, we know portals to Spirit Realms are a reality, so thin spaces where a portal might be trying to form are hardly beyond the pale."

"I . . . could try asking the earth spirits? They aren't usually well aware at this time, but the effort is worth it, isn't it?"

"Do you use prayer scrolls? The one thing I can use elemental magic with is to speak with the kami. Can't actually have the do anything for me other than chat though. If you don't use the new prayer casting I can assist you with casting to see if we can get a stronger response? You'd be the more capable with that though and I would just provide support," he offers to Kyosei.

"Ah, actually, I was involved in figuring out how to use the prayer scrolls. Partly because I have always, since my power was discovered, able to contact the earth spirits without having to use my blood. I can still do so, of course, but I don't have to. It just looks odd, and can be tiring." Looking around, he realizes he probably looks the most awake of any of the group.

"Well, it wouldn't hurt to try I suppose," Huan says to the collection of imperials.

Making sure no one was going to interject, Kyosei knelt on the ground. He took a deep breath, then closed his eyes and extended his hands to the ground. Oddly, his hands seemed to merge with the mud making up the earth. He takes a deep breath, then a strange rumbling sound came out of his throat.

~Greetings honored Earth Spirit. Which Realm is this village on?~

... Ningen-do... It grumbled with the voice of a boulder rolling down a hill.