“…Oh, it seems my thoughts were correct…”

 

I found myself in the body of the little girl again. This time, she was putting on some special looking clothes, dissimilar to the humans’ usual attire but which felt incredibly familiar somehow. “Ritual robes.” The words appeared in my mind in the girl’s voice…my voice…I don’t know, since our voices were the same anyway. “The same? How odd.”

 

After wrapping the sash around her waist, she looked at herself in the mirror to admire her new appearance. “Mirror?” A little befuddled by how I knew what a mirror was, I was even more astounded by the image reflected on that shiny material. A girl who looked no more than six years old – by human standards – with silver hair and deep blue eyes. A girl who looked incredibly nostalgic, as if I was experiencing déjà vu.

 

Her robe was a deep blue, layered dress with silver flowers bearing crescent-shaped petals. Her sash was plain silver that shimmered whenever the light bounced off it. There seemed to be a tiny smudge of black mud beside her eye, however it didn’t seem to bother her. If anything, it kind of made her look appealing – compared with the other humans I’d seen in both dreams and reality.

 

She twirled in front of the mirror and stretched out her arms to check her outfit was suitably fastened, before turning to the closed door.

 

“I’m done!”

 

“All right, ??????, I’m coming in now!” came Raoul’s voice before the door opened. “Oh my, you look as beautiful as your mother, little miss! You’ll be the talk of the clan when they see you.” He smiled at her before walking over and patting her head.

 

She giggled like crystal bells chiming in the summer breeze before grabbing Raoul’s hand and pointing at her hair. “Arrange my hair!”

 

Raoul nodded while smiling again, “Of course, ??????. However, I feel one of the maids would do a better job than I.”

 

“I want Raoul to do it!” She said while stomping on the ground.

 

“How could I make you angry, little miss?”

 

He then moved behind her and began pulling at her hair in various directions. I wondered what was meant by arranging hair but couldn’t turn my head to see since the girl I was inside had decided to peer outside the nearby window. In her vision, several other silver-haired boys and girls in similar attire were gathering near a raised piece of land. “What are they doing there?” Before I could fully analyse their actions, Raoul tapped her shoulder to signal his finishing.

 

She immediately rushed over to the mirror on her tiny legs and examined her new appearance. Her hair had been elegantly woven together in several parts before being wound into a ball on top of her head. Raoul then came over and slid a deep blue crystal stick that tapered at one end – with the same flower as on the dress dangling from the thicker end – into the bun.

 

“How does it look, little miss? Do we need to get a maid to fix it?” He asked her tentatively.

 

“…”

 

“Little miss?”

 

“…”

 

“Um…”

 

“I love it! Raoul is the bestest!”

 

She turned around and hugged him with a big smile on her face. They then both went through the door and joined the others. There were roughly thirty-four children gathered at the bottom of the raised land. An adult female wearing a silver robe with a deep blue sash stood at the top of the mound and raised her upper legs in the air. “Arms. Arms? Oh, they’re called arms.”

 

The adult female said a few things that my current body clearly hadn’t paid much attention to until everyone around her started hitting their hands together and making a fast-flowing river noise. She started walking up some ridges going up the mound with the rest of the children before forming a circle along the edge. With her eyes roaming around, she eventually saw a variety of crystal beasts of numerous sizes chained to many wooden poles embedded in the ground.

 

Among the crystal beasts, she could see Bastien near the middle – huddled in a ball – seemingly afraid of his surroundings. The adult female then spoke again: “Who among you is willing to establish their contract with their chosen crystal beast?” Eager to go first, she raised her hand straight away and stepped forward. The adult female stared at her sternly – exuding a powerful presence that demanded respect. “You, ??????, wish to go first?”

 

“I do!”

 

“Then may your ceremony be completed cordially.” She motioned for her to move towards the circle made of symbols.

 

First, travelling to where Bastien was, she unhooked the chain from the top of the pole before pulling it to the one in the centre of the circle. Hooking it onto the new pole, she fed the crystal she’d made in preparation for this ceremony to the Pyro Bear cub before sitting down and facing him. After taking in a deep breath she began singing that familiar tune from an earlier dream.

 

Strange words came out of her mouth that turned the soothing melody into an ethereal song. As the lyrics were constructing the body of the song, she slowly stood up and began dancing around Bastien. The little Pyro Bear cub made some noises that increased in volume before his body shuddered a few moments.

 

Noticing the ritual was activating the contract establishment, she quickened the tempo of the song and danced more vigorously. With every step taken, with every change in a hand’s direction, the Pyro Bear cub shuddered more violently. Locking her gaze on the little beast’s body, she took out the not-claw and sliced the front paw of Bastien. Dipping her finger into the wound, she then brought it to her lips before licking it clean.

 

The children around all took a massive intake of breath – no doubt due to the ceremony coming to its most crucial point of climax. Bastien started glowing the same colour as the crystal he had ingested, before slowly ascending towards her. The poor little Pyro Bear cub’s eyes had been tightly shut the entire time – either out of fear, or something else – and finally parted lids to gaze upon her. He reached out his bleeding paw, causing the glow to separate from him and form into a deep blue flower with crescent-shaped petals.

 

Everyone in the vicinity took in another deep breath as the symbol hummed in harmony with her singing. After the final syllable of the song was uttered, the ethereal flower shot into her body, causing the Pyro Bear cub’s suspension within the air to cease, thus resulting in it collapsing onto the ground. She only vaguely registered that happening as a euphoric sensation thrummed within her body – stimulating every extremity with incredible energy.

 

As she began to lose consciousness from the overstimulation for such a tiny body, she gracefully leaned forward and ended the dance with her hands reaching out to the Pyro Bear cub. Desperately trying to maintain consciousness before the ceremony ended, she called out the name of her crystal beast:

 

“I name thee: Bastien!”

 

Her vision then faded to black as I felt her head hit the ground; the tingling sensation from the contract being successfully established still jostling around within. “So, this is how they bonded…It felt so wonderful…”