Magia Record Story Tokime Tribe Tale
Summary
The following is a summary by bigscarythings.
Part 1
The event opens with the Tokime squad cleaning up Suitoku Temple as part of the end-of-the-year Japanese tradition where families clean house. One of the big orders of business is sorting through the temple's old, unused antiques and books to donate and sell them as needed. Shizuka expresses some hesitation at getting rid of these old, traditional materials, but the head priest believes it's the right choice - in getting rid of the things we no longer use, those objects have a chance of reaching those who really do need them. While picking through the antiques, Shizuka finds one odd trinket that gives her pause, but quickly sets it aside, since they have much work to do.
Later, Shizuka, Sunao, and Chiharu, in charge of selling the books, arrive at Kako's bookstore and take care of business there. On their way out, they bump into Team Mikazuki, who have a stack of books of their own to sell to the Natsume family. Kako apologizes for everything going so slowly - they have a huge spike in business at the end of the year, what with everyone going out with the old, in with the new. While waiting, Iroha and Shizuka get on to chatting, and realize they'll both be in the shopping district tomorrow, before the trio heads back to the village for New Year's, and agree to meet up before they both part ways for today.
Back at the temple, everything went smoothly - the antiques were picked up, and the temple cleaned up. Shizuka and the head priest thank everyone for their hard work, and the girls settle down to relax.
There, the girls get to discussing the Tokime Clan's new year's tradition, as mentioned in New Year Shizuka's MGS - basically, the clan head performs a sacred rite for banishing all the evils contained within a sake cup. According to legend, the cup originated from outside the village as a special tool to entrap calamities, but when they became too great for mortals to handle, the cup was entrusted to a Diviner to purge the evils contained therewithin.
Every few years, when the evils grow too great, to the point where heavy storm clouds gather around the region surrounding the village, the cup must be tapped with a sacred sword as part of the ritual in order to dissipate the calamities, bringing about a glorious sunrise to open the new year. The ritual has been held for centuries, with the Mikoshiba family in charge of things, but with the family dead and gone, the clan has no idea all the secrets that go into the ritual. This is bad, because if the ritual fails for whatever reason, it's said that great disaster will befall the land.
The girls are worried...but Shizuka and Chiharu's moms among other adults are helping uncover the true tradition, so they just have to wait and see. But later that night...Shizuka is haunted by a horrific nightmare. In it, a terrible storm engulfs the village - buildings and mountains collapse, the river floods, screams and shrieks pierce the air, and Sunao and Chiharu, along with everyone else in the village, are dead.
Shizuka wakes up screaming, her heart pounding even as she tries to settle back to sleep...she tells herself they'll be fine without Mikoshiba...they'll find the proper ritual protocol...but Shizuka, of course, gets no sleep, and Chiharu and Sunao immediately can tell as Shizuka finally comes down for breakfast...much later than she normally wakes up. They know she's in a funk, so they ask her to open up and talk about what happened, but Shizuka fibs by saying she was just excited for their end-of-the-year shopping trip, since it'll be her first time seeing a shopping area all bedazzled for New Year's. More than anything, she can't bring herself to tell Chiharu and Sunao about how they both died...she just can't. As she gets ready to go out, Sunao and Chiharu worry over Shizuka - they know she's stubborn and won't talk about things unless she's forced to...so all they can do is keep a close eye on her.
First things first, they visit Emiri's counseling center, and are immediately greeted by her boisterous cry - the place is packed with megucas! Ren, Rika, Hinano, Sasara and Asuka extend their greetings...as do Temari and Mikura, who were lugged in by Emiri when she spotted them outside on their way to an appointment at Natsume Books. Still, Mikura doesn't mind; she has time to kill. Shortly after all that's established, Team Mikazuki shows up, too, and things get even more bustling. In a lull, Shizuka's dream tears at her again - chewed up in anxiety, Shizuka wonders why she's so stressed about this dream...
She's snapped out of her trance by Iroha, who knows Shizuka isn't doing so good. Shizuka realizes her woes are showing up on her face, so she decides to trickle the truth a little - she had a bad dream about the ritual failing. Iroha asks about what the ritual does, and Shizuka recaps it, with Charu adding that their moms and the other villagers are working their way through old documents.
At the sound of "rituals" and "old documents," Mikura can no longer contain herself, and bursts into the conversation, asking if Shizuka knows what happens if they fail to quell the calamity-containing cup, and if there's any specific legend or message about what happens. Shizuka is surprised that Mikura guesses it dead-on, and Mikura explains it's just archetypical for these sorts of rituals.
Chiharu remembers that the other day, Shizuka said that the Tokime region will be doomed if they fail the ritual, and asks if that was what Shizuka saw in her dream...and Shizuka admits yes. Those stories have been told to her since she was a little girl, and the villagers fervently believe in this legend; she's had nightmares about it for years.
Chiharu and Sunao reassure her, saying they'll help her succeed, and that the village will survive beyond Mikoshiba's reign, and that they can protect the village themselves. Iroha encourages Shizuka to not keep her fears to herself, but in her thoughts, Shizuka reaffirms that she can't tell Charu and Sunao about what became of them...and besides, it's just a dream...but was it really that dream alone that made her so anxious...?
The girls leave the counseling center, with meeting Natsuki as their next item on the agenda. Since they have time before they meet her, they decide to do some shopping together, but Sunao warns Shizuka not to get lost. Shizuka insists she'll be fine, but Shizuka being Shizuka, she's shortly separated from her wives, and can't begin to break through the crowd to find them. She tries to get a hold of herself, but all this stress and anxiety can't be denied anymore, and she starts to break down in tears. In that moment, though, Natsuki, who was just on her way to their meeting spot, finds Shizuka, and eagerly goes to greet her...only to see Shizuka in pieces.
She helps Shizuka sit and calm down. Once Shizuka is in a slightly better place, she says she's fine now, but Natsuki doesn't buy a word of it. She says she'll hear out Shizuka, but then realizes that might be massively overstepping, given that Shizuka can't even speak to Charu or Sunao about it...but Shizuka notes to herself that she can't. And since it's Natsuki...she finally starts to open up, explaining all the gory details of her dream.
After hearing it all, Natsuki understands Shizuka's plight and anxiety. Shizuka loathes herself for thinking this way; she doesn't understand why she feels so weak after that dream. But Natsuki suspects that it wasn't the dream that's caused this - this must be something that's been building up. Upon thinking about it, Shizuka realizes this is true - breaking free from Mikoshiba was the right but difficult thing, and the village must change and adapt. But, as Natsuki points out, even if we know on a rational level that we must change, we can't help but be anxious about it and resist it, since it means we have to give up the things we're used to. Since Shizuka thinks as the leader, she has to be the strongest out of everyone, but can't seem to manage that, her anxiety has been slowly building...and maybe it all came to a head in the form of this dream.
Shizuka still chides herself for being anxious at a time like this, but Natsuki says otherwise. She explains her backstory, how she used to be an avid baseball player before she became a cheerleader - but it wasn't by choice at first. Her middle school forbade girls from joining sports, and she hated it at first... Then, even after adapting by becoming a cheerleader, she was still anxious about whether she would still be considered a true teammate by her old friends. She thinks change is scary, and anxiety is inevitable, but rather than denying it, we should admit it, face it, and figure out how to overcome it.
Shizuka opens up some more - with all the changes going on, the people in the village have been very stressed and anxious, and she had no way of assuaging their concerns. If she can't get things in control, she'll hurt her loved ones even more than they are already, which terrifies her...but Natsuki is certain that Shizuka will succeed. After all, Natsuki did it herself - she had friends to support her and incorporate her as part of the baseball team, just as Shizuka has friends who believe in her and support her. Shizuka thinks of Charu, Sunao, Chiharu's mom and Shizuka's mom, and the villagers...and finally accepts that she is, and it's okay to be anxious and scared.
Natsuki rallies Shizuka up into her signature cheer, and Shizuka finally smiles. That fixed, they go to find Charu and Sunao, who have been worried sick, and thank Natsuki for helping Shizuka return to normal.
Their day done, the three Tokime girls return to the village - after being gone for so long, they've grown unused to the freezing winter climate. Shizuka's mom greets them, noting Shizuka's high spirits, and Shizuka recaps her on recent events; her mom is happy that they're on track for the ritual. Shizuka's mom invites them inside, noting that she turned up the heat since she knew the girls would have lost their cold weather adaptation after being in Kamihama for so long; Chiharu's mom says she made the right choice.
The moms have finished deciphering Mikoshiba's documents, and are as set for the ritual as they can be. Shizuka's mom and Shizuka start rehearsing for the ritual, which goes off without a hitch; in the end, Shizuka will tap the cup, her mom will raise it to the sky, and the sun will rise, marking the purging of calamities and evils. Everyone is enthused, certain that the ritual will be a success.
That night, however...Shizuka has another dream. This time, she takes the place of a girl named Hatsu Tokime, an ancient heiress to the Tokime Clan, speaking to her best friend, a Diviner named Suwe. Hatsu has discovered that this whole calamity cup thing is a sham - the Mikoshiba from centuries ago had deceived Suwe into contracting with Kyubey to create the cup, which only the Mikoshiba family knows how purify, thus ensuring the Mikoshibas would survive for centuries more. Suwe is in denial, insisting that Mikoshiba, who had raised her, would NEVER trick her, and after fighting with Hatsu about it, Hatsu agrees to drop the issue. But she decides she'll fix everything by contracting with Kyubey in secret, without Mikoshiba forcing a wish on her... The dream ends with faded voices, and Hatsu begging Shizuka to "restore the sword's brilliance."
Shizuka snaps awake once more. She thinks over all this alarming info - the calamity cup doesn't seal evil, but summons it; and the Mikoshiba family has be corrupt for hundreds of years. All this might be only a dream...but she decides she needs to make sure for herself. She sneaks out to the site of the ritual, and calls for Kyubey, who immediately appears. She questions him, and he confirms that Suwe made a wish to create this disaster cup, and that Hatsu made a sort of wish to counter Suwe's - to create a sword that will drive away the calamity cup's evils. It's the same sword used in the ritual...and Shizuka is heartbroken, realizing that Hatsu played into Mikoshiba's plan all along.
Still, given that Hatsu's wish came true, why hasn't the cup been destroyed? Basically, the Mikoshiba family took the sword from Hatsu, and arranged to have a piece broken away and hidden. That bit of the sword seems to forewarn which year the disasters will culminate, which the Mikoshibas have been using to know when to carry out the ritual. Kyubey offers that they can set things right by simply finding the broken piece and reattaching it to the sword.
It's a simple solution...but not easy. Nobody knows where that piece of the sword is, given it wasn't among Mikoshiba's belongings. Shizuka digests all this heartbreaking news, and laments how unfair it is...the only thing she can do for her ancestors is...she can't bear to say it. It would be destroying centuries of tradition. But Natsuki's words come back to her, and she finds her mettle - yes, she must end this ritual to ensure Hatsu and Suwe's sacrifices weren't in vain. She needs to destroy the Calamity-Calling Cup and break this tradition forever.
And on that declaration...the story will be continued.
Part 2
TBA