CHAPTER 9
THE DEVIL'S FATE: AT THE END OF BARGAIN
MARINA-EAST COAST ROAD : 9.00AM
It was simply a great feat in herding the wolves safely to the destined place without any unfortunate mishaps. But that doesn't mean they didn't have one. Not one, they had plenty. Obviously the shinsengumi men were not only the rowdiest bunch, they were all attractive too. With those drop-dead looks and killer bodies- not to mention extra large mouths, kareena decided it was better to be chased by a pack of furies than to run from a crowd of squealing women.
After running a marathon through alleys and markets, they finally escaped the rabid mob of stiletto heeled monsters.
"I … I should have known better" kareena was huffing and puffing her hands on her knees.
"this era women are more… forward and demanding." Sanosuke said running a hand through his hair.
"yeah! That was amazing! I bet they fell for my awesome muscles" shinpachi pumped his fists in air and started flexing.
"yeah. More like bags of fat" heisuke snickered.
"you brat! I will skewer you!" they started bickering in the middle of the isolated alleyway where they were standing.
"enough you two!" hijikata growled effectively shutting them up.
"heh? Are you jealous that no girls came onto you hijikata-san?" souji drawled earning a few snickers and the infamous demon glare.
"quit fooling around! Tsukune-san, we need to make haste. What is the next course of action?"
"first, we need to find a way to avoid these kind of incidents again. Which I know for sure will happen."
Kareena said straightening herself.
"aww. come on kareena-chan. You are ruining the fun." Souji pouted which earned a glare from her.
" .do. in this era, popularity is a dangerous weapon if we donot have the experience to handle it. It would be dangerous for us and to our host if people figure out the similarities between you guys and the guys in the plane crash."
"tsukune-san is absolutely right. We forgot one of the main aspects of fleeing the country in the first place. It is a must that we maintain a low profile."
Saito backed her up by effectively pointing the key matter.
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience tsukune-kun." Kondou-san sheepishly added.
"it's not about inconvenience kondou-san. It's a matter of duty and responsibility. If it was normal, I would have fooled around too. But, we are out of options already here. We need to get safely to that place. And I need co-operation and not obedience." Kareena spoke forwardly to the ex-commander of the shinsengumi expressing her true view of the recent happenings.
"understood. The boys will co-operate with you as you wished tsukune-kun." He looked sternly at the guys who expressed their approval.
"so? What's the plan?" souji smirked at kareena who simply stared at him.
"what? You don't have one? Surely you cannot expect us to follow you if you don't know the way" he mocked earning a growl from her.
"souji!"
"hai. kondou-san."
"I do have one. Just wait for me here. I will be right back."
"wait! Kareena-chan!" heisuke hollered.
"just a few minutes. Trust me in this." She called back bolting out from the alley.
"trust me she says…" shinpachi trailed off when he earned a glare from hijikata.
"here. Put these on. Because it's their appearance the main problem, I figured these will handle the situation to certain extent."
She handed the stunned guys a bunch of sun glasses, caps and jackets. hoodies for heisuke and souji.
But, it seemed those things only helped increase their natural charms.
Hijikata had donned grey sun glasses and a black jacket, sanosuke- dark sun glasses, oxblood jacket on his already white shirt, cap to conceal his hair
Shinpachi- colourless glasses, thick brown jacket to conceal his muscles(or fat bags as heisuke called it)
Heisuke and souji wore caps and hoodies on their shirts and souji wore dark glasses .
Saito wore a cap to hide his unusual purple colour hair and a high collared black jacket with a white scarf(for which he was very grateful to kareena).
Kondou-san had no need in disguising himself due to his common features and fatherly aura, though he gladly donned a pair of glasses just to be safe.
Fortunately, they had no other mishaps along their way. still, kareena instructed them to travel in two separate groups-hijkata, kondou-san, souji and saito as one group that followed a little behind the group lead by kareena.
After a travel of approximately four and a half hours, they were lead towards their destined place by a guy who introduced himself as Neil saginazi. He looked the same age as saito or souji, with frail features and polite manners.
"whoa! this place is awesome!" heisuke gaped at the sight of the mansion situated a little away from the sea on a high ground. The structure of the mansion was beautiful and an amazing sight to see.
The mansion's main entrance was on the lower ground , the first part of it lining the border of the cliff facing the inner coast. The second part of the mansion was built in such a way that it went all the way until the top of the cliff facing the sea. It was like constructed more or less like a staircase- the mansion ascending to the cliff.
the guys stood in wonderment at he sight for a few minuted before being ushered through the main doors.
They reached a room that looked like so kind of meeting room, with cushion seats surrounding a large rectangular coffee table . the room was different than the other rooms they saw on their way. This room had only few things that were absolutely necessary. They noticed there were a pair of cushion seats larger and majestic than the other seats on the opposite ends of the rectangular table.
"welcome to my humble abode, my honored guests."
An booming yet authoritative voice made them all turn to it's owner- an elderly women with slightly grey hair tied to a bun, wearing full-handed black vest that reached until her knee, a soft grey leggings, house sandals, a grey shawl on her slim shoulders.
She had an aura of authority that easily mingled with the politeness in her features.
"please make yourself comfortable. Kondou-san and hijikata-kun can take the high seats in the table, while the rest of you can occupy the other comfortable seats."
After they had made themselves comfortable, a line of servant men entered through the other door bringing trays of refreshments.
Hijikata immediately snapped his gaze towards shinpachi and heisuke who had obviously started to drool seeing the drinks and other food items. They both immediately schooled whatever expressions that had to maintain decency once they saw the terrifying glare of hijikata.
"so, since I know who you all are, it is only proper to introduce myself. I'm Miralise Kahluha, one of the elders of the Harisa Sorcerer's council."
KAHLUHA MANSION : 3.00pm
"I am here to offer you an explanation, to cease the confusion that reflects in all your faces. I only ask for your patience in hearing me out."
"kahluha-san, what is happening and why are we here?" hijikata asked narrowing his eyes at her.
"straight to the point hijikata-kun. Yes, it is all confusing and unclear as why the fearsome warriors of japan were reborn into this world 150 years after."
"it all started when the elixir of life was invented first."
A sharp silence fell in the room and tension rose in the air.
"the elixir of life was originally manufactured using the blood of the western devil- the pureblood devil from the west oni clan. Even though the new government ordered the termination of the research in the late 1890's, it was too late to stop the export of the elixir to the other countries."
"when this information was found out, the head of the oni clan were ordered by the council for the operation of exterminating the furies and the remaining elixir. The oni clan sent the head of the kazama clan for this mission."
"later in 2014, the comeback of elixir turned a huge tide against humanity. The comeback of elixir was proved when the first reported murders by the "diseased" was investigated by a special force. After a monstrous increase in the murders, a doctor claimed to find a cure, put together a team of talented doctors and scientists in that classified research."
"but the research was closed due to the pressure from the social activists and later the central government. The team was disbanded and the doctor was assigned for nuclear reasearch. But three years later, the issue rose again but in greater vigour."
"tsukune-san here, is the only alive witness of the fury attack. After proper investigation, the victims of recent murders were connected to the people who worked in the team for finding cure for this elixir."
A string of gasps were heard and kareena's face paled.
"she had contacted the special force who were tasked with the investigation of this murders three years ago. Upon her information, the special force sent their most talented team for the investigation. And kareena was tasked to receive them. But what she received was the news of plane crash."
"then how-" shinpachi trailed off mulling over the new information.
"the council resurrected you."
"what?!" heisuke and shinpachi chorused.
"how? And what is this council you are talking about?" souji questioned narrowing his eyes at her.
"there are 3 worlds, 3 times and 7 realms in this universe of life. The earth is called the universe of life as it acts as the habitat of every being, every species of life. This universe of life does not go by the ways of human- as we rule or govern. It has different government and administration. Human world is real for humans and universe of life is just an illusion. "
"truth is, the human world comes under the 3 worlds categorized inside the universe of life."
"every world governs it's own. Follows the rules to balance the other two worlds. The same with time and realm. It must work in the way of balance."
"the common ruler of the universe of life are the GOD. Harisa Sorcerer's Council is the judiciary center of the universe of life. The rule setters and the ultimate police force."
"when this conflict started, the council went into a panic state because, the imbalance in human world sent the other two worlds into chaos."
"they held a meeting to discuss this issue and the council decided to settle this by simply exterminating the furies. But things got worse after that. The universe of life was sent into chaos due to some incidents and the council was forced to use every available energy to control the chaos. They had no other choice than to withdraw from the elixir operation."
"but, our lord- the head of the council wanted to balance the two issues and called another meeting. The final result was to reawaken the warriors who had their fates be interwined with the construction and destruction of the elixir. They also ordered the head of the spirit clan to guide the warriors."
"this is the reason why you all are here."
The silence was deafening.
"so in short, we are here to do what we did grudgingly 150 years back. I thought I escaped an hell by death. Looks like I was thrown into another one." Souji's smirk was threatening as he glared at her.
"souji…"
"consider this as a bargain."
"with?"
"as I explained earlier, I am the current head of the spirit clan- Kahluha clan. But, this conflict is going to be handled by this clan's successor. "
"you want us to baby-sit?" souji crossed his arms not lessening his glare.
"Tell me warriors, have all your memories returned?. Do you remember every detail and every person in your past life?"
Souji's eyes widened slightly as her challenging look met his statled gaze.
"not quite." Saito answered his brows knitted and thoughtful look on his face as if he was remembering something.
"very well." She turned to address everyone who had identical lost expressions on their faces.
" I shall bargain the cooperation of the reborn warriors for their missing memories."