After that time I met Akeno for the first time passed and now it has been many months since she and I became friends. I started going to Akeno's house almost every day, especially when Shaman King was airing.
I love the show, it really helps me as I can see ways of using spirits that I never thought of before. The best example of what I managed until now thanks to it is that I can 'incorporate' some of the spirits that are close to me, kinda.
Whenever I do that I feel super weird and I get these dreams that show their past to me after instead of being able to go to the platform as much. It isn't all bad since I get to learn what the spirit knows first hand, but I can sense that the incorporation is just a minor one, like I am not doing it deeply or fully enough.
But hey, it worked! With this, I managed to spar properly with father, even if he restrained himself a lot for this but I could at least do a much better job like this and the experience also let me experience the fighting style of Arthur-sensei well.
Not that this meant that I stopped my other training. If anything it only grew worst as all the spirits wanted to walk a bit and I let them borrowed my body to them quite often and they used my body to demonstrate different magics and styles. But the happiest one of them was Abe no Seimei-Jiji as I started learning in earnest about Onmyouji with him.
And I can say, it is very boring.
I mean, it is strong and very versatile but the fact that the most minuscule difference in the size of the stroke or if the paint isn't precisely correct the effect would change and the result would possibly be disastrous. I mean, I was creating a simple spell that should create just a simple ball of water but instead, it exploded in my face and sent me 5 meters flying up.
The good news is that I am improving quite quickly and according to Seimei-Jiji I could reach his level in 20 or so years if I keep it up with him even if I don't spend all my time focusing on it.
Father also started to teach me more intricate things related to holy energy and especially how to imbued holy energy into my fists to fight even if I don't have a holy weapon at hand. It is quite fun and the more I do it the more natural it becomes to my body to circulate holy energy in the way father has instructed me to. Father and I also got to understand that my sacred gear is probably mutated somewhat in that I can change characteristics of my body to improve my condition.
We tried many things like fighting in low-oxygen areas and it was hard but that good sensation appeared in me and I could fight normally in that condition. Poison, heat, cold, gravity, nothing could influence me for too long before my body adapted to it.
I even remember my father's words after we got to this conclusion.
"Your Longinus is such a cheat. 'Only good for support', as if!" Was what he said.
Now, this may sound weird but I am not on my home in the mountains. There is a new year celebration of the Five families today, it is a festival all around and it is very funny.
The location was in a huge courtyard where many tables were positioned and there were a lot of games everywhere for every kid to enjoy. There were also many stalls with food and free drinks and everyone was enjoying everything there was there. Father could come as he is a close friend of Seryu-Ojisan that is the head of the Nakiri family but he told me that he had some things to take care off and that after that we would all go to Akeno's home as her mother is preparing a feast in the Christian style for the new year as well, together with Akeno's father.
Akeno's father is an older man called Baraquiel, he and father are respectful about one another but try to avoid talking or being interacting but neither goes against me and Akeno being friends after they saw the two of us playing one day.
Speaking of her, I am currently walking in the festival while holding hands with Akeno. She is wearing a pretty kimono but I could not see her expression that well as she decided to use a mask to cover her face. She said that some of the kids are mean to her so she decided to put a mask so that no kid would recognize her. I told her that as a hero I would not let anyone be mean to her but she decided to use the mask regardless. At least this mask only covers her upper part of her face so I could see when she smiled or pouted and she could eat easily enough.
"Hey, let's try that one." She says while pointing at a stand where you can see people playing gun shooting.
"Sure, let's go." I said and the two of us get there.
"Let me try first." Akeno said and positioned herself to shot and so I waited.
BANG
And she missed, three times in a roll
"Owh, and I wanted that doll. Can you get it for me?" She said while fidgeting a bit.
I smiled and went to the bout.
'Fabio, this might not be a bow but let me try it. I want to see if I can manage to use a gun just as well.' The voice of Arjuna-sensei rang on my head. I don't really have anything to lose so I focused on my sacred gear for a moment.
Pulling his soul from the gear and into my body I feel a strange sensation as I incorporated him into myself.
I could not control my body in general as Arjuna-sensei took the gun and positioned himself like as if he was shooting a bow.
BANG
The dook fell.
BANG
A plushie bird fell.
BANG
A pack of candies fell too.
The owner of the stand look at me with a stinky eye but as Arjuna-sensei is controlling my body he gives back the gun and comments.
"If this gun is the best you have then a bow is better." Arjuna said as he took all the prizes in his hand. 'Fabio, you can continue now. Just don't try that game again as it is rigged quite a bit.'
I nodded internally as Arjuna-sensei's soul returned to the grail and I was left standing in the plaza with the doll, bird plushie, and the candy in hand.
Without a second thought, I gave Akeno the doll she wanted and the bird plushie too.
"Thank you." She said happily before going to my side and giving me a peck on my cheek. I put a hand on my cheek due to the suddenness of the action but she saw this and giggled. "Ara ara, if you get flustered so easily now it will be too easy in the future to keep making you flustered."
"Humph." I snorted before going to behind her and hugging her from there before kissing her on the cheek too. She didn't put a hand on her face but she put a bit of her weight on me instead, I could sense the trust she feels on me right now and I have no intentions on letting her down.
After that, we filled our stomachs and played some more. It was almost time to go home when I notice one stand we didn't test out before.
It was a Goldfish Scooping game, a game where you use a tool called poi that is a thin washi paper and use it to scoop goldfishes that you can then take home.
"Akeno-chan, didn't you say that you want a pet?" I asked.
"Yes, I did mention that before." She admitted between bites of the yakisoba she had in her hands. The only reason as to how she even could do that was because I created a basic shikigami with what Onmyouji I had, but that is beside the point.
nodding to this I went there and got three pois with what money I had left. When I used the first one it broke before I could take the first fish away.
"Hehe." Akeno giggled behind me.
"Just you wait! I will do it!" I said and used the second one. This time I moved quickly but gently managing to take one of the fishes but that is it as the poi broke before I could get another. Taking a deep breath I went again with the final poi and managed to get one more goldfish before it broke.
I could only look down and sigh, I really did a bad job if all I managed are two small fishes while the other kids get so many with the same amount of pois.
Akeno, as if reading my mood, takes the pair of fishes and smiles.
"Fabio-kun, these are perfect. Thank you." She says smiling gently. I smiled back and we were about to leave when-
CRASH
One of the kids playing hit Akeno by accident and her mask dropped to the ground. As soon as it did the vendor in front of us and the kids stopped as they stared at her.
"..."
"..."
"... get out of my stall." The vendor said. His amicable face turned to one of pure rage as he stood up fiercely. "Get out of my fucking stall you half-breed monster!" He yelled while taking out a talisman of his pocket. With one glance I recognized it as a wind spell, with one movement I put my hand forward and launched a magic barrier to stop the magic as the wind blaster at the barrier.
Akeno saw this and her eyes widened as she bolted away while hugging the pair of fishes in her chest.
I turned to look for her but some of the guards came due to the commotion and they pulled me along to go to a detention cell for bringing a 'dangerous element' to a human-only area.
I don't have a single clue about what is going on, but I have to go look for Akeno as I don't know what these people will do to her. They act almost like she is a monster, but I know she isn't like that at all. She is a good girl, she is probably alone in the forest or somewhere else right now, I need to go look for her.
"Stay here until we find the head of the Nakiri family and he brings you to whatever hole you belong, trash's friend." The guard said as he shoved me inside the room with enough force to send me to the ground.
As I hit the ground here I closed my fists in anger, not for me but for Akeno. Why are they talking of her like that? I need to go, I can't be here. What type of hero would I be if I leave a friend alone at a moment like this?
'Then, just let me help.' The voice of Abe no Seimei came to my mind. Closing my eyes I pulled his soul to me even stronger than usual, my emotions and desires screaming that I have to escape and leave this place, that I need this strength to go and help her.
And, my sacred gear answered as the fusion of Abe no Seimei soul and my own was different this time. More complete, I could feel my soul and his synchronizing and it being like my soul and his became one, his power and my own uniting as one more.
"This is not bad. Let's call this FULL IMMERSION - ABE NO SEIMEI MODE." I, no, WE decided that as we moved to the wall, our thoughts and decisions as one we bit our finger and drew a symbol at the wall. Purring more energy than me as simply Fabio ever had the symbol light up and from it a creature was summoned.
A shikigami, a white tiger of two meters tall with the symbol of King in his forehead.
"Weird, I don't remember forming a contract with a human on the last hundreds of years. So how did you manage to summon me?"
"I see that you don't recognize me on this form." We said to Byako, the white tiger shikigami that I as Abe no Seimei created with part of the body of the original White Tiger.
Byako looked at us for a while before laughing.
"So you reincarnated, Seimei-sama! Good, let's go and show the world our power again!"
"No, we did not reincarnate. We are sharing this body with my pupil Fabio. Now, help us get out of here." We said to Byako who nodded his head and lowered his body to us. As he did so we jumped into his back and get ready.
Byako turned to the wall and roared, the roar broke the reinforced stone and everything in its path. Some guards started reacting and running towards us but Byako just kept running away and before they could stop us we were far away from there.
Just wait Akeno, I will be there soon.
Akeno's P.O.V.
Why is it like that? Why me being half fallen angel is so bad?
Mother always says that my wings are pretty and father is so strong and gentle, so why everyone treats me so badly in here?
Thinking about tonight, it was like a dream turned into a nightmare. Fabio and I were so well, he listened to all my wishes and was so nice that I felt great, but now it is over.
Father told me, he explained to me that Fabio's father is an exorcist. An enemy of all fallen angels and that I should be wary of him and Fabio if only to not show my wings otherwise Fabio might treat me different. I don't think he would, but I trust father as well so I didn't stop being friends with Fabio at all and instead just never released my wings when with him.
But, now he will probably know everything. And if he does know and comes to hate me for it... I don't want to think about it but I can't stop doing so.
"Hey, there she is." A boy's voice echoed nearby.
Looking up I saw that it was not just one boy but about eight of them or so. They all look at me with disgust and interest, it is almost like I am a monster to an exhibition for them.
... I probably am that on their eyes.
SMACK
A rock hit me. I look at them and I see that they have a bunch of rocks in their hands as they smile evilly at me.
"Let's play 'slay the monster!'!" The biggest kid yells and they all begin to throw rocks at me. I could defend myself but mother told me that if I were to ever hurt one of the bullies I would be no better than them. I refuse to be worst than these boys!
Thinking that I turned and ran away the best I could, I released my wings to serve as shields to my body but when I did that the boys started throwing spells at me. None really hurt that much, but they stung much more than the rocks.
TRIP
I didn't pay attention and tripped on a root on the ground. Due to that and my speed, I ended up going much further ahead than I expected, my knees got scrapped and my wings were hurting due to the magic attack that hit them.
"Hey, look at this guys! She dropped something!" one of the kids said. I turned to look and was horrified, the bag containing the two fishes were on the hands of one of them.
"Yeww, throw that thing away. It has filthy germs in it." Another kid said and the one holding the plastic bag containing the fished threw it on the ground.
"NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" I yelled as I ran at them, but I was stopped when someone shoved me to the ground.
"A foreign being tried to attack members of the Doumon and Shinra families, that is a crime. You will be taken to interrogation now." The person holding me said and as I turned to look it was one of the Five Families enforcers.
I tried to go to the fishes if I can make some water maybe they can still be saved.
However, I was not allowed to do that as the enforcer pulled me up and started dragging me away.
.
.
.
"Deplorable. To reach such lengths, the Five Great Clans have fallen." A voice said before mist permeated the air. It advanced quickly and before long everything was covered in it.
I could not see anything as the enforcer stood ready, a talisman in hand and a knife on the other as he released me. Not carrying about that I went to where the fishes were and saw that the two were almost dead already.
I heard grunts and sounds around but could not do anything about them as I tried to create a talisman to create water. I managed to make one and I quickly opened a hole in the ground with my hands before using the talisman to fill the hole and put the two fishes in it.
With this they will be okay, the present that Fabio gave me will be okay.
The fishes were not breathing. They were floating.
They are dead.
Tears spilled out of my eyes even harder, but as they did I noticed that the mist around started clearing up and Fabio was there. He was looking at me gently as he kneeled before me.
"Akeno-chan, are you hurt?" He asked, his voice was tired and I could see that his eyes were a bit glazed over but he still was worried about me.
"T-The fishes, you gave them to me but I could not protect them." I said, voice trembling as I did so.
"Oh, don't worry. I will fix that for you, I give you my word." He said and smiled at me, his smile calmed me down and filled me with the confidence he would manage this somehow.
Fabio's P.O.V.
My head hurts.
This FULL IMMERSION - ABE NO SEIMEI MODE is something that tires my soul quite a bit. I feel that I was and wasn't in control of my own self, like if I became one and the same with Seimei-jiji for a moment there. A lot of information and experiences were pressed to my mind that I did not manage to process yet.
I cannot understand how I did that exactly but I feel that my head is hurting and that my whole body is tired, my eyes feel heavy and I cannot see clearly at all as if I am trying to look at everything under water. But at least I managed to get to Akeno-chan.
I could see from the distance how that enforcer acted towards her so I created the markings of talismans in the heads of them whenever I touched their heads and the power activated paralyzing them all.
However, right now what I am about to do is something I never wanted to do. Something bad. But, if it is to make sure my friend is fine I will do it.
I will bring back these two fishes to life and reveal my sacred gear to Akeno.
Putting my hands on my chest I feel something being pulled from within my very soul. It was not the real one, more like the visualization of it than anything else, but it was there.
As I did so I went to the platform inside my mind. My professors were there standing silently and with stern faces, except for Abe no Seimei-jiji who is currently a bit more transparent than before but looks in peace with himself and is smiling softly.
Ignoring this I did the one thing I knew would not be correct. I could see the two fishes I was looking for right outside the platform, so I extended my hand BEYOND the platform's space.
DESPAIR
PAIN
HUNGER
BETRAYAL
COLD
LONELINESS
RAGE
Multiple negative emotions of all the souls started purring over my mind as I did it. I could feel so much negativity that I almost wanted to give it all up, but this level is nothing if it can ensure that Akeno-chan is okay. That she isn't crying on my watch.
So, I pulled the two fishes in by force, when I did so I could sense lack of air and I understood that it is like I am experiencing all the pain the fishes felt while drowning on air. The agony is terrible, but I must not stop now.
I have to continue.
I gave my word that I would do it and if I want to be a hero I will follow through with this.
So, as I pulled the souls back I returned to the 'physical world' and I could see the two fishes inside the visualization of the grail. I purred the souls and the liquid inside the grail on the bodies of the fishes and the last thing I saw was how they started swimming again.
I brought the dead back to life.
And the world went black.
