Notes

Well, here it is. My second long-running series to come to a close. Learned a bit from this one, I think, or at least from doing it at the same time as The Deal. First off, my next series'll have longer chapters than this one; even if I have to space them out more, I feel like a two-week wait for 4,000 words is better than a one-week wait for 2,000. Second, the readership is different between here and AO3. At AO3, this is the more popular story, but at FFN The Deal is kicking this one's butt. :P Not sure if it's just a demographic thing or if this one has more interesting tags there, but it's something to think about either way.

When we last left Botan, she'd friggin' won. Bet you didn't see that coming from an Athena fanboy, huh? All that's left is the ending; I'll let you decide if it's a happy one or a bad one. Hope you enjoy!


Chapter 7: Spirit

FINALLY. Botan relaxed, dropped the unnecessary Threads, sighed in relief...and grinned.

She had done it. She had done it. Asamiya was hers. More than that, her plan had worked like a charm. She hadn't had to risk using her trump card; the girl's own teammates had tipped the scales by themselves. Forget clever or witty - for the first time in her life, Botan actually felt smart. And it had given her more power, more control, than ever before.

The Puppetmaster started to laugh. Maniacally. Fulfilled, triumphant, giddy, she let herself go, belting laugh after laugh out into the -

Then she blinked.

"Don't move, don't attack, don't use your powers," she told Asamiya quickly. Good grief, she had almost forgotten. ...what was that, about five seconds? she groused, not feeling so smart anymore.

She needn't have worried, though. The instant she'd won, Bao and Momoko had automatically gone to sleep, and Athena's depression vanished instantly...but it was replaced by fear, fear like she hadn't felt since her early days of fighting evil. And it disabled her perfectly well on its own; she'd managed to gasp, widen her eyes, and clap her hands over her mouth - and then she'd sat there, paralyzed, terrified of what would happen to her now.

But while Athena was paralyzed, her partner was finally free.

Sie Kensou had become himself again, just as Botan had promised days ago. It took him just a split second to realize where he was, what he'd done, and how he really felt about it. His instincts were to scream in anguish, fall to his knees, rip his heart out...but that wasn't what he did. That wasn't what Sie Kensou did at all.

Meanwhile, Botan approached Asamiya, wearing another, darker grin. She had slipped into Evil Mode again, her thoughts racing with ways she could punish her new puppet for giving her so much trouble. Asamiya could only stare up at her in horror, breathing as hard as her frozen body would let her.

"Asamiya Athena," Botan oozed, savoring the moment. "You can't imagine what I'm going to do with that beautiful mind of yours..."

Athena whimpered, would've started shaking if she could.

But then the girl's eyes turned to Kensou, who had started to growl. Botan heard him, too, but didn't even turn his way; she didn't really care about him anymore. "Hey, Kensou. Good to have you back. Don't move don't attack don't use your powers," she said coolly.

Then, to Asamiya, "I had your boyfriend here wake up so he could watch me reprogram you." She had jerked her thumb back toward him, still not looking at him - even though the noise was starting to annoy her. "But it turns out, he's actually a pretty good guy. Hopefully you'll give...give him a chance sometime. I want to see - I want to see you kids make it WHAT are you growling about back there⁇"

Irritated now, Botan whirled around with a scowl - that turned into a wide-eyed stare.

Kensou too was frozen in place, but he had already taken position. His arms were down at his sides, his fists thrust out in front of him; his knees were braced, and his head was bent forward. More importantly, he was staring at Botan with death in his eyes...and a faint, cerulean aura.

"What are you doing?" Botan demanded. "I told you, don't use your powers!"

But it wasn't his power that Kensou was using.

His aura suddenly flared outwards, reaching almost to the ceiling. His eyes started to glow, the color matching his aura. A wind picked up from out of nowhere, filling up the room with noise. But none of that stopped Kensou, who had something to say.

"It was a good plan, Botan!" he called out over the roar. "You're smarter than you think! ...but you made three big mistakes!"

"Listen to me, damnit! Stop using your powers!" But the aura only increased; the wind only blew faster.

"You shouldn't have let me snap out of it!"

"Stop it! Stop‼ Whatever you're doing, stop‼" But it had already begun; nothing could stop it anymore.

"You shouldn't have let me remember I would!"

"Sleep‼ Fall over‼ KILL YOURSELF‼" But Kensou was beyond her now; his eyes were solid, brilliant sapphires.

"...and you shouldn't have let me keep loving her."

With that, he leaned back, screamed - and the Dragon Spirit returned, bursting forth from Kensou until it tore through the ceiling.

For Botan, fear made the mind work faster...and right now it was in hysterics. Her first thought was to try to control the thing - but she dismissed that immediately, almost laughing at herself. Her next thought was to get Asamiya to help her - but even her powers surely paled in comparison to this. Get Kensou to tell it to stand down? Probably wouldn't even listen. Get Athena to teleport them? Could she even teleport others? Wake Bao, and make it annoyed? Wake Momoko, and make it unhinged? Wake Gentsai and have him do nothing⁇ ...but what could she do about this⁇ Scream? Cry? Run? Where⁇ It could fly through walls, it was twenty feet tall, it already had her in its sights -

- and it did not look happy.

YOU ARE A GRAVE THREAT TO THIS WORLD, it boomed mentally, "speaking" to Botan but heard by Sie and Athena too. NOT JUST EVIL, BUT UNCERTAIN. NOT JUST POWERFUL, BUT A PAWN. ...BUT NO MORE.

Its eyes flashed. Botan screamed bloody murder, falling to the ground and holding her head, as all her puppets were set free, all the Threads she'd bound to them were broken...and her ability to create them was taken away.

YOU WILL FORGET YOU EVER HELD THIS POWER, the Dragon commanded her. YOU WILL LEAVE THIS LAND, FORGET WHY YOU CAME, AND NEVER RETURN. AND IF YOU APPROACH THESE SOULS AGAIN, YOU WILL PERISH. NOW GO!

Still clearly in pain, Botan nevertheless broke into a stumbling run, leaving the bedroom, fleeing the dojo and vanishing into the night.

But the Dragon wasn't finished.

It turned to Kensou, less angry but just as imposing. He and his teammates were all looking at it now, the kids awake and the adults free to move. Bao, who'd brought it to them, stared at it in awe; Momoko, who had never seen it, turned away in fear. Athena looked all around it for signs of movement, eternally grateful but always wary...and Kensou looked it right in the eye, his face reverent but confident, seeing both a god and his peer.

YOU HAVE DONE WELL TO SUMMON ME, the Dragon praised. BUT YOU HAVE MUCH TO LEARN. YOU AND YOURS HAVE BECOME TARGETS, BOTH FOR YOUR POWERS AND MY OWN. YOU MUST LEARN TO MASTER ALL OF THEM, WHETHER IN OR OUT OF CRISIS. AND YOU MUST LEARN TO PROTECT THEM...BEFORE ANOTHER CAN CONTROL THEM.

"I understand," said Kensou solemnly.

With that the Dragon Spirit withdrew, lifting Kensou from the ground as it rushed back in as fast as it had emerged. I WILL BE WATCHING, it warned ominously, right before it vanished.

Kensou landed on the ground in a kneel, facing away from his teammates. He breathed hard for a moment, stood up and steadied himself; then he turned back towards them.

"...well," the young man mumbled, rubbing the back of his head. "That was certainly upsetting."

Bao and Momoko started to cheer and run toward him - but they stopped when they saw Athena, leaping from the bed and directly into his arms. She was convulsing in sobs, both from the ordeal and the relief; he held her closely and securely, supporting her the way he'd always wanted. The kids looked at each other, smiled, took each others' hands and watched, knowing this could be important.

"She turned me against you every way she could think of," Kensou told her. "I wanted her to break you. I wanted to help her do it. I wanted to do things I knew would hurt you, wanted to go behind your back. I didn't want you, need you, care for you...I didn't even like you.

"But she never said the big one. She never took the most important thing from me...never even tried. She never, not once, told me 'you don't love her'."

"Oh, Sie..."

"And so I did. Deep down, beneath the garbage, I still loved you. For everything she said, it made that little bit of difference...planted that little seed of doubt. 'Is this what she would want?' I'd ask myself. 'Is this what I would want...for someone I love?'"

"...I've been so horrible to you...!"

"She told me right from the beginning I would wake up when we broke you. I'd have fifteen seconds...just long enough to see things with clear eyes. Because I still loved you, I knew I might not like what I saw - and if I didn't, I couldn't waste time hating it. I had to make those seconds count."

He pulled her away from him, holding her back at arm's length. She wasn't sobbing anymore, but still looked teary-eyed, fragile and raw; he was staring at her intently, looking as calm and serious as he ever had.

"I don't need you to respond to this. Right now, I really don't care how you feel. I just need for you to know that I love you, Athena. And I always will."

(Momoko gasped in delight; Bao rolled his eyes.)

He pulled her close again, into another embrace. But almost immediately, she pushed herself away, looking back into his eyes. The tears had run down her cheeks now, and she seemed on the verge of more...but her eyes and smile were showing him more warmth than they'd ever shown anyone else.

"I'm sorry, Sie...but I can't not respond to that," she told him. "It may be as family, or it may be something more; right now, I'm honestly not sure which. But one way or another, I love you too, Sie. And I always will."

(Bao raised his eyebrows; Momo put her hand to her heart.)

She thought about kissing him. Probably would have done, in fact. But he could see it in her eyes - and he hugged her instead, putting their heads side by side and holding her tight. So tight, in fact, that she realized it was a message. Not now, he was telling her. Not like this.

I understand, she told him, by clinging to him just as hard.

Then they relaxed, and just held each other, for how long they didn't know. Momoko looked back at Bao grinning, and even he had to smile...until they realized their hands were still touching. They pulled back quickly, looking away from each other as Momo blushed and Bao winced.

Finally, Athena opened her eyes, looked at the kids and smiled. "Well, what are you waiting for?" she teased. "Get over here!"

Laughing, they ran up and joined their partners, Momoko latching onto Athena while Bao awkwardly hugged all of them.

"We are all of us family," said Athena. "No one can take that from us. And together, we can do anything."

And right now, they believed it.


Meanwhile, out in the hallway, Master Chin watched them closely.

He had woken up at the same time as Bao and Momo, of course. Hearing all the noise, he had torn down the hall - then stopped dead in his tracks when he found out what it was. He'd hung back after that, partly not to disturb the scene and partly not to piss off the giant dragon. But even when it was gone, he'd never found a good time to reveal himself.

He didn't feel hurt about it, though. Rather, he looked at them with a deeply satisfied smile, more proud of them and of himself than he had ever been. He hadn't taken on disciples just to fight evil, after all. He had wanted to create a legacy, wanted to leave something behind. But these were no longer his disciples; somehow, he had raised a family. His wish had come true in a way he'd never expected...and it was a good one.

"I can die a happy man now," he mumbled to himself. He looked up at the nearby wall, at the picture of his beloved. "Wait for me, Grandma."

Then he heard the kids laughing again, and he looked back at them and smiled.

"...it might be awhile yet, though."


End Notes

And there you have it. Kensou, not Athena, saves the day. Now normally, I'm all about the girl power. (Check out their fight in Chapter 5 of The Deal if you don't believe me.) But I figured that Sie had been the "distressed" one long enough that it'd be okay to let him shine here. Besides, at some point - probably Chapter 4 - this became Kensou's story as much as Botan's; letting Athena steal it from him just wouldn't have been right.

I know I kinda left this open to a sequel, but it's probably not gonna happen. I've just got so many other ideas, and I don't have the time or even the energy for all of them. Feel free to pick up the story where I left off, if you want. I'd prefer to know about it beforehand, but it's not like I can stop you. :P

See you next time!


She drove away from the dojo at top speed, her heart racing. She knew that as soon as she made it back to the city, she'd buy a one-way ticket to Japan, and when she left here she'd be doing it for good. She couldn't understand how she felt these things, or why she couldn't stop them. But she could remember the fear. She remembered that she had just seen a terrible spirit, and that she didn't want to see it again in a million years.

...she remembered the rest of it, too, actually.

Botan's memory was inviolate.

Tears streaming down her face, she thought about everything she'd just lost. She'd never have another puppet, never give another order. She'd never possess someone as strong as Asamiya again. She had been so close to having it all - power, control, even leadership if she'd wanted it...

...and companions.

Because that's what they were, she'd realized, even more than they were Soldiers. She had watched these five out of necessity for days, and she couldn't help making observations. They were nothing like those from the past; these people treated each other with warmth, respect, and even love, to varying degrees. She'd had something like that, once upon a time...and seeing it up close again had made her want it back.

And now it was gone. And so was everything else.

Botan started sobbing again, barely keeping her eyes on the road...but underneath it, she was scowling. It was not gone, she knew. It had been taken from her. That terrible spirit had taken more from her than anyone ever had, and she couldn't get it back on her own. She couldn't get it back through others, either. Not anymore.

But she wouldn't let that stop her.

Not this time, Botan vowed. Not this way. Someday, somehow, she was going to get it all back...and then that spirit would pay.

And then Sie Kensou would pay.