"Eleaya? What is going on? Where are we?" Wayne asked.
Eleaya and Ceres watched him run frantically back and forth.
"Believe it or not, he's the normal one," Eleaya said.
Ceres observed as Wayne tripped, falling into a patch of flowers. Even then, he flailed about.
"I find that hard to believe."
Ceres glanced over her shoulder.
"Here they come," she brother, Wayne," Eleaya explained.
She looked at Wayne. Ceres glanced at Sesshomaru.
"Believe it or not, he's the normal one," she said.
Sesshomaru glanced at Eleaya.
"I know," Ceres said. "I'm scared too."
Eleaya spun fast, smiling as Sesshomaru appeared in her eyesight.
"Hey! Boss Man!" she greeted.
Sesshomaru's eyes flickered to her then to Wayne who lay flailing in the flowers. One of his eyebrows rose in question.
"That's my older brother, Wayne," Eleaya explained.
She looked at Wayne. Ceres glanced at Sesshomaru.
"Believe it or not, he's the normal one," she said.
Sesshomaru glanced at Eleaya.
"I know," Ceres said. "I'm scared too."
"Is it so bad?" Himawari asked.
She watched Yuri pace.
"How do you feel?" Yuri snapped.
Himawari shrugged.
"Originally I was being shunned for being weak but against a demon like Sesshomaru, we're all mediocre. And you and Koji proved that to both Father and Grandfather."
"Koji is dead," Yuri hissed.
Himawari sighed, rising from the cushion she lay on.
"Here," she said, offering Yuri a gold ball. "Is my plan."
Yuri's jaw dropped as she stared at the ball.
"Isn't that the Jhunpo?" she gasped.
"Indeed it is, my darling sister. Grandfather gave it to me," was Himawari's reply.
She shivered, remembering the wrinkled, old hand as it offered the ball to her and the hollow, shrunken eyes as they looked at her, piercing into her soul.
"Grandfather said to replace the frog's heart with this. Wanna do the honors?' she asked
Yuri's nose wrinkled.
"No thank you! I leave that to you," she declared.
Himawari rolled her eyes, tucking the ball in her pocket.
"You can't claim any of the fun later."
"Was this necessary?" Akio asked.
He glanced at the water around his knees.
"Underwater caves. More inconspicuous than, say, crashing on a beach," Ceres remarked.
"Hey, my control has gotten much better," Akio retorted.
Eleaya looked back at them.
"Akio, don't drop my brother! Ceres, stop bugging him!"
"He started it," Ceres mumbled.
Eleaya rolled her eyes before turning back around. She looked ahead at the path of murky water that they were following.
"Thank you for carrying me," she whispered to Sesshomaru.
The demon lord didn't acknowledge her words. He merely kept walking.
"You know what needs to be done?"
Yuri did her best to hide her annoyance at what Grandfather was insinuating. It wasn't like she was raised only knowing how to sleep with men. That was a preference. Only on occasion did she cast an illusion, other than a cloaking one. Himawari stood beside her, hands dripping fresh blood.
"Of course we do, Grandfather," Himawari said.
She looked at her hands before smiling and trailing a finger over her lips.
"Blood. Nature's makeup," she joked.
Yuri looked away, raising her arms. She closed her eyes, sensing the intricate pattern she was weaving. Then she felt Himawari's woven pattern force its way into hers. The two merged and Yuri struggled to match Himawari speed when it came to weaving the pattern.
"One fake island, coming up."
"There it is again!" Akio spazzed.
He looked around, trying to find the demon responsible for the low rumblings in the cave. At first, he figured it belonged to some sort of aquatic demon with territorial rights but the rumblings had followed them. Ceres covered her mouth, stifling a giggle. Akio looked at her as if she was insane but she just smiled at him.
"Akio, it's Eleaya's stomach."
Akio's eyes flew to Eleaya. She'd long ago fallen asleep on Sesshomaru's back, secured by Ceres's obi.
"We're almost to the end of the cave," Ceres reported.
She turned to Akio.
"We'll leave Wayne at the mouth of the cave."
Akio nodded.
"Let's hurry though. I've just got this bad feeling," he said.
"Eleaya, wake up."
Eleaya groaned, lifting her head a bit. She could feel sand beneath her. Looking around, she could see the dark outlines of trees.
"We're here?" she asked, sitting up.
"Yep," Akio answered.
He was standing by the water, moving his hands over it.
"What are you doing?" Eleaya asked.
Akio smiled.
"Separating the salt from the water."
Eleaya looked at Ceres.
"Where's Wayne?"
"That I don't know. Sesshomaru took him in order to hide him somewhere he'll be safe."
"Is he really safe?"
"Yes," was the demon lord's response as he rejoined them.
"You didn't bury him, did you?" Ceres asked.
Sesshomaru just glared. Eleaya stood.
"Let's just go find Jaken," she said, trying to distract them.
Luckily, it worked. The two demons looked away from each other. Ceres put her nose in the air, sniffing. Confusion overtook her features.
"What's wrong?" Akio asked.
"It's probably nothing but I can't smell anything but ocean."
Akio touched the water, closing his eyes briefly.
"The waves are telling me that there's no island here," he said.
His eyes widened.
"The island's not real," he announced.
As soon as those words left his mouth, the ground beneath them became water as the illusion faded. Eleaya looked down at the water around her waist.
"My brother's not still unconscious is he?" she asked Sesshomaru.
"He is."
Eleaya's eyes widened.
"Ceres," she began.
"On it!" Ceres said, diving into the waves.
Akio closed his eyes and let himself sink under. Slowly, the water began to churn until the water around them became a whirlpool. Soon both Eleaya and Sesshomaru were on the bare, undersea ground, fish of all different kinds swimming in the water outside their funnel. Akio was kneeling, hand pressed to the ground. He smiled.
"Easy as pie," he declared.
"Pie?" Eleaya asked.
"Cake lies," Akio explained.
It was then Ceres broke through the seawall, dragging Wayne.
"Wayne!" Eleaya cried, running to hug his sleeping body.
Ceres let Eleaya support Wayne as she made her way to Akio, collapsing against him.
"I hate water," she gasped.
Akio hugged her, smiling. Then he looked at Sesshomaru.
"We should find the island. We're probably close. An illusion like that would have to be close to the casters or it wouldn't have held so long."
"Why weren't we able to sense it was fake in the first place?" Eleaya asked.
Akio glanced at her.
"Because we truly believed that it was real. We were sure they didn't expect us to come after Jaken. When I fully convinced all of you that it wasn't there, the illusion fell apart."
"It's a common way to escape illusions," Ceres added.
She pushed away from Akio, rubbing a hand over her eyes. Sesshomaru eyed her before looking at Akio. Akio gulped.
"He's looking at me," he whispered to Ceres.
Ceres smirked.
"As you know, those with ten'nyo blood are able to manipulate elements. Being one who excels at fire, when I'm up against a lot of water, I'm a little weaker."
"Does that mean I adore swimming because I'm a water ten'nyo?" Eleaya asked.
"It just means that water may be the element that you excel at."
Ceres stretched before she picked Wayne up, slinging him over her shoulder.
"Let's get moving."
"Won't a giant whirlpool attract attention?" Eleaya asked.
"Which is why Akio is going to fix that," Ceres declared.
Akio rolled his eyes at the assumption but closed his eyes. The water closed in, becoming a tunnel.
"Works for me," Eleaya declared.
They all began walking.
"This is bad," Maho declared.
She dropped the dirt in her hand and stood, pacing. Aya watched her.
"Aya," Maho said.
When Maho used her name, it was a bad sign. Whatever she'd seen in her vision was really bad. Aya set her fan down, giving Maho her full attention. Maho smiled sadly at her.
"Ceres is going to die."
