“That’s a pretty name. I’ve… never met someone like me before, actually. Hi, Moonlight Flower, I’m Morikawa no Akiho. My mom was a priestess, too.”

There isn't a response. Just complete silence.

...as opposed to the oppressive feeling of unreality from just now. It's not... entirely gone, but it's definitely no longer trying to crush her into paste.

That’s promising! Really promising! But still nothing she can slap a seal on, just yet.

“I can help you. I have some practice with the whole… keeping my inner fox demon under control thing. So it can stop lying to you about what’s going on.”

Still silence.

"...we press on," says Annika.

Akiho nods, still reassured. They can maybe do this!!!! It can happen!!!!

Anyway, yes, onwards.

They approach something that could've been a temple, once upon a time, a large and rich one. The square area that probably used to be the temple's garden is protected by walls, many of which have crumbled enough to be passable. There's a dry pond with a petrified tree over there, and the main temple building would probably be farther into the cave, hidden by the unnatural darkness Annika's floating light cannot pierce. There's no more fighting on the way there, not since they ran into Moonlight Flower's fox, and now it's only quiet and cold. Until they actually step into the temple, that is.

It's the middle of the day, the sun shining high, which feels incongruous with the rest of the scene. There are fires everywhere, their smoke thick enough to form shapeless black clouds obscuring much of the view of the sky. Some people are trying to put the fires out, not very effectively, and not using any magic. It's unclear what they think they'd be able to achieve, without magic; the fire has clearly spread into the forest itself, and it's unclear whether the village is faring any better than the temple.

And in the center of the garden there's a girl, kneeling on the ground and holding her head in her hands. There's a wooden stick with a bell at the end lying forgotten nearby. Her chin-length, golden hair hides the spot where ears would be on a human, but a furry pair of fox ears poking out of the top of her hair and pressed flat against her head suggests there wouldn't be any. There are various patches of golden fur on her body, and her hands and feet are replaced by digitigrade paws (with opposable thumbs in the case of the hands). She has nine fox tails, each about as long as her whole body, and they're stretched straight out away from her. 

There are cracks on the ground, some of the fissures wide enough a person could fall into them, spread in a spiderweb pattern centered on her, and where they've touched any buildings they've greatly damaged them. Occasionally there's a tremour and the cracks spread out a little bit further, or widen a bit, or a new small crack appears. 

Funnily enough, there isn't a feeling of spiritual pressure, here. Maybe because it's unnecessary, made diffuse by the memories and evoked by the scene itself. There's no need to be made up feel like everything is horrible when everything is visibly horrible. 

They are in the belly of the beast.

Another tremour rocks the place, hard enough the only thing leaving Taharqi and Annika standing is their specialised training. Still, Taharqi has to brace, lowering his body a bit closer to the ground and keeping his arms out for balance. 

"Moonlight!" he calls. "Moonlight Flower!"

She doesn't look up. Her ears don't even twitch at hearing her name.