Past the tall red arch lay a courtyard that should have been green and lush. Instead, Rei wrinkled her nose at the chemical musk seeping off of bare, blackened soil. The shrine rose from the desolation, outwardly untouched by the sense of corruption, beckoning her closer. Promising safety. She gritted her teeth and tried not to gag.
The charms on Minako's staff tinkled as she hugged it close. "What happened here?"
"Something
bad
," Rei fingered the pouch of salt at her belt. "There aren't even any trees - it's like everything just vanished."
"Everything but the shrine." Minako swallowed. "Do you think there are survivors?"
"We don't know how long it's been like this. Days, weeks, months..."
The shy brunette curled in on herself as if trying to hide behind her long, straight hair. Rei pursed her lips - Minako wasn't ready for an exorcism. She was barely ready for a pilgrimage! But their master had sent them into the world to do good, and a corrupted shrine needed their cleansing touch. And Rei begrudgingly admitted she couldn't do it alone. Not something this big, at least.
She ran a hand through her short-cropped black hair - highly irregular for a Shrine Maiden, much to everyone else's annoyance - and stared out at the desolate expanse. Perhaps her gut feeling was wrong; a lesser demon could do this kind of damage with enough time. Maybe. If they tried day in and day out. In the end, it didn't matter what it was or how it did it, because sacred ground was sacred ground, and any corruption must be purged.
Rei stepped closer to her trembling companion. She slid her hand into Minako's slim fingers and squeezed. "Don't worry, I'm here."
Minako's pretty face flushed Rei's favourite shade of pink. She squeezed back, tightening her grip on the staff and hesitantly nodding.
"We'll stick to the path. That should keep us safe from the worst of it." Rei said, sounding more confident than she felt. She was the strong one - always had been, since the day they'd met - and she needed to show Minako that was still true. Even when her heart thumped in her chest.
"And when we get to the shrine? What then?" Minako asked quietly.
"We'll figure it out. You're always good at making up plans on the fly."
"Only because you keep making me!" She pouted. Even so, she interlocked her fingers with Rei's and stood straighter, staring up the winding gravel that cut through the black soil. "Ready?"
"Always."
The two of them took their first step together and paused, waiting for the first sign of an ambush. Nothing but grim silence awaited. With a shared sigh of relief, they made their way along the path. Stones crunched underfoot, their long red skirts trailing gently behind them. Rei let her hand wander down to the simple studded club at her belt as her eyes flicked over the landscape. Not a shred of grass or wayward weed broke the brown-black desert. Where once tall groves of trees might've stood, instead, there were only clusters of curious statues. Vaguely humanoid and smooth like black glass, with blank eye-sockets that never moved but still followed them.
They passed a sacred pool where crystalline water once sparkled in the light of dawn - now, only the same glossy black as the figures lay inside, still and perfect as if it'd been painted on. Rei's skin crawled as a cold breeze blew at her long sleeves. That musk saturated
everything
. Acrid and artificial. Chemical.
Wrong
.
Minako tugged Rei's sleeve and pointed ahead. Lining the path was more of those strange statues. Vaguely humanoid and distinctly feminine, with blank faces and tightly held bodies, as if restrained. And all of them pulled into lewd, perverted positions. The nearest had its back arched and its legs spread wide as if showing off its... unmentionables. Another buried its face into the ground, rear in the air, silently begging some fantastical thing to mount it.
"They're, um..." Minako mumbled.
"I see it." Rei tried to hide her blush.
"Some of them are bigger than Sister Hanamura."
"Ugh, the sculptor must've been a pervert. Probably some old guy obsessed with big chests." And rather large arses, Rei noted as she passed by the presenting one.
Not that she could
necessarily
blame the sculptor. They were very, very good at what they'd carved. She paused to stare at one. It knelt on the ground before her, arms pulled tightly behind its back and its head tipping. Even without a clear face, something about the shiny black surface felt so... real. Sexual, yes, but with just the right kind of imperfect proportions to suggest a life model. But that was absurd; there wasn't even a face!
The more Rei looked, the more the statues unnerved her. Who had made them? They couldn't have been part of the original shrine, not posed like this! And why were they so
shiny?
Everything else in the courtyard was dusty and barren, yet these shone as if polished on the hour. The blank faces made her skin crawl. The empty eyes at once stared into space and yet into
her
. Begging. Pleading for something she didn't want to give.
And what kind of stone was that anyway? It didn't sparkle like basalt. It had no veins like marble...
Rei licked her dry lips. The sensible part of her brain screamed at her to stop. But the curious, impulsive side moved her first - she reached out to the stated and gingerly pressed her finger onto the kneeling statue's forehead.
The surface gave.
"What?" Rei muttered. It wasn't solid, like stone. No, she sank into it - met a faint, springy resistance. Almost like... rubber?
The statue
squirmed.
Rei shrieked and leapt back, almost bowling Minako over. The two of them stared in horror as the glossy black figure writhed in place, stuck fast in its kneeling pose but still wriggling. Still resisting. A low, guttural groan bubbled through the silence. A
human
groan.
Minako tugged on Rei's arm, her pale face whiter than marble. The other statues came to life, twisting in place as a chorus of muffled moans surrounded the girls. One bucked against the air, thrusting its hips into empty space as if trying to grind itself on some invisible edge. Another clamped its legs together, rubbing its thighs, its head drooping back on its shoulders. All along the path, a corridor of carnality erupted at once, rubbery bodies wracked with desperate frustration. The shiny exteriors tightened, bringing definition to supple thighs and full chests. Outlining every curve and bulge.
Pulling Minako tight against her, Rei tried to block out the sounds. Tried and failed - those moans vibrated through her body. Begged for... what? Release? More?
For them to join?
"Rei..." Minako whispered, tightening her grip on her fellow maiden's hand. "Can you hear that?"
