A/N: *sounds of running, door opening and slamming* Jeez, sorry I'm late. Shit's been crazy for a while. Welcome back fans, to yet another enlightening chapter of Demon Love starring your favorites and written by yours insanely. I do believe that since chapter fifteen there hasn't been any real fighting, and by fighting I do of course mean complete and total ass whippings (and some more brutal and gruesome stuff that I can't talk about in the author's notes). :)
Along the way we see how imaginative I can be for the puzzles that await for our 'hero' and any otherworldly creatures he may encounter. Let's read on and see…
The Second Hunt
(Seventh floor, with Naruto)
Bodies. Numerous bloody corpses were sprawled about on the ground, long since dead. Some were intact while others had been torn apart near the point he couldn't tell they were human body parts. This was the sight Naruto saw when he stepped off the elevator after it stopped and lit another flare. His foot tapped something and when he looked down he saw it was a head belonging to a guard, and nothing more. Part of his mask was torn, showing Naruto the poor soul's face, frozen in sheer terror, eyes bulging and mouth wide in a silent and eternal scream.
"What happened here?" Naruto said under his breath. Cora stood beside him and saw the bodies, her eyes going wide and she buried her face in Naruto's jacket. He placed his hand on her head to comfort the girl, sickened by the carnage. Farther down Naruto saw some open cell doors and could see more bodies' prisoner and guard alike, their forms in lifeless positions of flight. Mata walked around the carcasses sniffing them as he did. "Their scent in human, but the thing that killed them, hardly." He reported.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Naruto asked knowing he wouldn't like the answer. "It means you should be careful. We may not be the only ones out in the open." Mata replied, his tail twitching in anticipation. Great. That's the last thing I need is to fight through all these dead people, and right at the start of my search. The boy thought.
"Naruto, I need to get a closer look at the dead. Upon close examination I might be able to tell what took place here." Enra's voice rang through Naruto's mind. "Fine, but please make it quick." Naruto told him and gave his body to the demon. Enra looked through Naruto's eyes at the frightened Cora and patted her head. "It's alright child. Just keep your eyes closed until I say otherwise." She covered her eyes and kept her head down while Enra inspected several corpses.
"General injuries of those with intact bodies include broken bones and internal bleeding…crushed lungs and heart, both pierced by fragments of a shattered rib cage, are prime suspects for cause of death...what cause could bring out such an effect?" Enra muttered to himself as he sifted through what remained. He moved some bone fragments and picked up a heart for closer viewing. "Those who are meat puzzles show unusual puncture wounds aimed straight for their hearts…why tear one group apart post mortem?...unless another party did this…"
He moved on, making mental notes of things like how far the blood splatter went on the walls and the differences in the number of intact bodies to the ones in pieces. "Well, what's the verdict?" Naruto asked growing impatient. "Patience and diligence are virtues among humans; I need some more time to analyze the results of my findings." Enra said looking over some nasty wounds on one corpse's back. "Then tell me what you do have so we can work with something. I don't like to be around this many dead people at one time."
Enra gathered his thoughts and surveyed the gruesome area. "From what I can tell, there were two parties going after these people, whether on a rampage or they meant to slaughter them I cannot say. What I can say about them is one was supremely strong and excessively violent, the evidence shown in the torn and crushed bodies and how they are thrown around. Judging from the blood splatter patterns on the floor and walls it would appear that they used a claw-like weapon to do the damage, but strangely some of them were dead before they became like this.
"The other group was more merciful when compared to the first. Their weapon of choice is similar to a large needle or a short spear-like object to puncture these men's hearts. These types of marks appear more in those whose bodies have been turned to shreds. I am unsure as to why this is because I don't have enough to work with. If we can find out whom or what did this, then we can estimate if they pose a threat to us."
Mata prowled along the edges, looking into each cell for signs of life on the other side of those doors where he could. "It's either an empty room or a dead person with each cell I find. The bodies inside the cells don't have the same injuries the ones out here do. In fact, they may just have simply died of starvation," His nose cringed in disgust as the smell of rotten food mingled in with that of the smell of decayed flesh. "They haven't touched their provisions, looks like they just wanted it to end."
"What a horrible way to die. I could never see myself doing that." Naruto thought in grief. Enra wiped the blood off his hands and stared at the many remains. "They chose the lesser of two evils, they grew terrified of whatever was waiting for them outside of those doors and they decided to face death their way and deal with their demons in Hell rather than to face the monsters out here. Even if they didn't, they most likely would have been thrown into the fray and end up like the others."
Enra gave control back to Naruto and he went back to Cora. The girl still had her eyes covered but was now on her knees in the blood of the dead, her body trembling. "Keep your eyes closed and I'll carry you. Got it?" She nodded through her shivers and Naruto picked her up and carried her in his arms. Carrying Cora, he walked over the many appendages until he got to one of the cell doors where Mata was looking through a viewing slot.
"I think there's someone inside this cell," He said staring through the dark. "I can hear faint breathing coming from inside but I can't see anything. I can't tell you who it is until we get inside, if you want to that is." Mata kept on staring at the darkness like he was waiting for something to happen. "It could be one of your friends, but if that is the case the door may be booby-trapped. Be cautious." Enra whispered.
"Think we can get in?" The feline wondered walking away from the door to look at an arm. "What we need to do is check the door for any sign that it's been tampered with. Any wires, parts of metal that's been welded, anything." Enra instructed Naruto and he told Mata the message. "That welding part isn't too far off, before I looked inside I saw the edges of the door." He pointed with his tail and Naruto noticed that the door's edges were a part of the wall; the metal had been melded together.
"You may be able to blast it open but you have no clue as to what's behind that door. Stealth is an option, but after what I've seen you do, you might have a better chance to blow it off." Mata mused in a teasing manner that annoyed Naruto. "I doubt even with your strength you could pull it off." Enra was pondering on an idea. "But, maybe I can do something to help out. Grant me control."
Naruto freed his body and Enra took over again, setting Cora down and immediately making hand signs. He laid his pointer and middle fingers of his right hand on his lips and blew on them. "Fire Style: Flesh Wick." He whispered and lashed out, striking the wall with said digits. They sparked up and a small white flame burst from his fingertips all in one swift motion.
Naruto saw the fire and was mystified by it and baffled at what Enra was planning on doing with it. Enra could feel Naruto's curiosity as he saw what the demon had made. He brought up the tiny flame, closer to his eyes. "The end result we're looking for is this door off, so I'm going to use a trick I picked up and burn through the point of contact between the door and the wall using this makeshift torch." He moved his fingers closer to the door, angling them at the long sliver of warped metal. The torch licked at the seam, trying to ride up the wall with little effect.
"Nothing's happening, are you sure this will work?" Naruto questioned Enra's method as he watched through possessed eyes. "How can something so small and weak cut through the wall?" "Now, now, child. Just because something's small doesn't mean it's weak." Enra drew a deep breath and held it, focusing his attention on the work at hand. The tiny flame grew brighter and hotter and the metal glowed red, then white. Soon after, sparks had begun to fly off the incandescent metal in plenty as it bit and clawed through.
"Ah-ha, you see? Something small," Enra's torch had scorched a hole in the seam and traced it along the door. "Can still be powerful. Now, give me a little peace and quiet if you can. I need to concentrate to get the fire hot enough to burn through." Naruto kept his trap shut while Enra diligently cut through the last of it and let the door fall to the ground with a noise. "Mata, see if there's anything inside that we should be cautious of." Enra said.
Mata looked at him funny, "Why send me? Your body is less vulnerable to harm." "This is true, but you are spryer than I and you see better in the dark. You'll be fine." Enra brought his foot back and booted the feline in the cell. "Now get in there and say hello to our guest!" He said playfully. Mata landed gracefully inside and looked back with a glare. "Don't you know you shouldn't be mean to animals?" Enra's response was mocking laughter. "Bastard…" Mata cursed under his breath and went to look.
Even inside Mata still had a hard time seeing its occupant. Strange, my eyes are perfect in the dark. Something else must be at work here. "There's something blocking my sight in here, I can't see anything." He whispered behind. Enra looked around the entrance and went in. "It must be a justu of some sorts. If I remember right they say that every cell is uniquely made to be a perfect match to its occupant." He eyed the ceiling, the walls, and the floor for something, something that he thought would be helpful. Enra snapped his fingers once and frowned when nothing happened so he tried again multiple times, nothing happened.
"No light…probably part of the justu." He grabbed the bag at his side and pulled out a flare. "This should do it." He lit it and the room brightened up quickly, revealing a wall opposite from the door. It was like black glass but it had ripples on its surface in constant motion, like water tides. Enra touched the mysterious barrier and new ripples bounced off the current ones made from his touch.
Fascinated, Enra stepped back to admire it. "Very interesting, it's a barrier that prevents any light or fire chakra-based elements. It's very good security, it not for the loophole of a single flare." He looked down and at his feet, there was a seal the size of a melon. He placed the flare on the ground and examined it, grabbing items from the bag.
"You're going to rewrite it, like you did with the others?" Naruto guessed. "That's right, but this one will take time, it's more complex than the others were before. Sometimes it's just easier to alter these things than break them and let something helpful go to waste. It's even better if we can copy the formula for future use." Enra took out a scroll and brush and opened it, showing other seal formulae written in it. He copied the seal down and rolled it back up.
"Now we can deal with this," Enra said using the brush to write around the seal, markings that Naruto recognized to be similar to the written language he saw Enra and Yunika use before. He wrote them in the shape of a pentagram and connected the markings. He made hand signs and placed his right hand over the seal. "Demon Sealing Justu: Dark Star Seal Release!" He called out and struck the seal with his palm.
The ground shook with a strong force, strong enough to crack the ground the seal was imprinted on. The barrier slowly faded away causing Enra to slap his knee in joy. "Now let's take a look at our friend here…" It was a young man, bloody and beaten with torn clothing. He sat in the center of the room with eight chains holding him, four attached to each arm in different positions, forcing them to be folded over his chest. Like Naruto, he had a metal mask covering most of his head, making him unable to see or hear.
Mata went bounding over to see the body. Under closer inspection he noticed the clothing the man wore was the same as those they crew wore on the Blue Drunkard. "It's one of the crewmen from Shobo's ship." He announced. "You guys came here on a ship?" Naruto asked. Enra was just as curious and he asked the same question. Mata told them his side of what had happened starting from the temple and how he ended up at the prison.
"So that's how they got here. Ask him what happened to the captain and his crew." Enra conveyed the message and Mata shrugged, "The last time I saw them they were at the mercy of the prison guard on the top floor. I was ordered by my mistress to see what was going on and report it back to her but after what happened to you…things got more complicated and I was told to keep an eye on you."
"Does that mean you've been outside? Are these friends of yours there too? And how long have you been doing this?" Enra questioned the feline and why he was practically given to Naruto. Mata looked Enra in the eye with a profound and confused gaze. "You mean you don't know?" Enra was puzzled at Mata's question and stopped to gather his thoughts.
In his silence, the sounds of metal licking metal echoed quietly behind Enra. Itachi was showing signs he was awake, lifting his head and trying to stretch his arms. "If he's one of ours, we should release him. His help could be invaluable, if he's as good as you say." Enra pointed out. Mata flicked his tail. "Agreed, he was very good on the boat. But take off his mask first, as a precaution."
Enra went to grab the mask and Itachi stopped moving, still as stone. Enra took this as the sign to go ahead and removed the mask. Itachi swung his head around after Enra took off the mask, blinked a few times and looked up at him. He squinted, trying to adjust with what little light was provided. "Who are you?" He asked. His voice was horse and he could hardly speak the words he did. "He doesn't recognize me? Why?" Naruto asked.
"Most likely because you looked normal when they found you, and the way you look now…It would be understandable if he didn't know who you were. And because of that, it could be dangerous telling him who you are, because of his possible paranoia. Let me handle this, I have an idea." Enra purposed and while he talked with Naruto, Itachi observed his surroundings.
He looked over every crack and crevice, eyes searching for something. There wasn't much to see in the simple light the flare gave off, even in the small cell. What he could see within the light seemed…wrong, looked wrong, like the light was ripples made from still water. Itachi looked past the man standing before him and the large beast that was with him and stared on through the opening. In the lower right corner of the hole he saw a small figure of a child peeking inside. He shook his head to clear his mind and when he looked again, it was gone.
"Something….doesn't feel right. What did you do to me?" Itachi muttered as best he could. Through his eyes the white-haired man looked at him with interest. He grew closer and leaned in to stare at Itachi face-to-face, "I have done nothing to you, except save your life you miserable man. Tell me your name." He ordered. "My name is Itachi Uchiha and who are you?"
The man smiled like the devil and played through his act, "Who I am isn't nearly as important as why I am here and that, my good Uchiha, is to release you from your bonds. I've heard of your feats, so I'm a little curious as to why you haven't broken out of here yourself yet. Or," He toyed with Itachi's chains, plucking at one like a string. "Maybe you can't escape because you've grown weak in your short time here, but not by your choice I bet."
Itachi tried to clear his head again to no avail. "What…how can you?" He tried and stopped. He activated his Sharingan to read the man now that he could see. It lasted for a few seconds then was cut short from strain. "Yeah, I wouldn't want to try that again if I were you. See these chains here; they have a redundant chakra leech/supply system etched into the metal, something thought up to prevent you from doing something like activating those eyes of yours. But I have the power to break you free if you wish." The man offered.
"Why would someone be sent to free me after all this time? What does Goturo gain from messing with me like this?" Itachi questioned himself. The man's face turned confused at Itachi's statement, "You've lost me, how long have you been in here?"
Itachi lowered his head and closed his eyes to help himself think. "They have a system in place where guards come three times a day to give me food, and as of now you're the ninety-first person to pay me a visit in this cell." After some calculating, Enra was colored incredulously and did them again. "That can't be right, but if it is then you've been in those shackles…for over a month."
"WHAT!? If he's been here for a month, then we've been here for longer than that. What the hell happened?" Naruto went on and on and Itachi rolled his eyes. "But of course you already knew that, this is just another ploy Goturo made to learn more about Naruto. So tell him that he can stop playing around and ask me what he really wants to know." Enra looked at Mata and the cat shrugged, "I can explain later, for now let's get him out. This one will be useful once he regains his strength." Enra put the revelation aside to deal with later. "It looks like it's your lucky day. We're going to get you out."
Itachi laughed harshly, "Even if I did believe you, how could you get me out?" Enra grabbed a handful of chains and pulled, hard. The metal fought and groaned but eventually broke under his strength. Itachi stared disbelievingly at the event that just happened while Enra felt the weight of the metal links. "Hmm, those ones were weaker than those in the lower levels…" He mused and tossed them aside.
He broke off the other pieces and helped Itachi to his feet. He was unsteady at first and nearly fell so Enra pulled Itachi's left arm over his shoulder to help support him. "What are you, if not an ally of the warden's?" Itachi asked. Enra smiled devilishly again, "It means I'm a friend of yours. So take your fortunes where you can friend."
The two stepped outside and Mata grabbed Enra's attention, "Hold on, If I recall didn't Goturo's message say something about rigging the cells to stop something like this from happening?" Enra thought about it for a moment. "Why yes, indeed he did. Seeing as it wasn't inside the cell, my thoughts would lean to something meant for us on the outside…"
As soon as those words left his mouth, an inhuman cry filled the air. A mournful scream, the kind that makes your hair stand up on the back of your neck, did the same to them. "And that would most likely be it. Mata, get Cora on your back and let's get moving before we have to find out what that was." Enra instructed to which Mata gave him a sharp look. "And don't give me those eyes. We have to protect the girl since she can't protect herself."
They found Cora, frozen stiff in fear, looking out into the darkness. Mata looked in the direction she was and narrowed his eyes. "What is it, what do you see?" Enra asked impatiently. Mata didn't answer right away. "I see people, about two dozen or so. But they don't look right," He shuddered and drew a paw over his nose. "Or smell right for that matter, they smell like rotten meat. Let me give some light." Mata took a deep breath and exhaled a ghostly-blue fireball. He did this again and again until the whole area was filled with light, and then they saw what the light revealed.
Mata was right; the people he saw didn't look right. Most of them had on guard uniforms and some had on prisoner's garb. They had pale skin with small bits of their bodies gone, past wounds that never fully healed on their arms, legs and chest. Their eyes were glowing bright yellow with blood-red streaks growing away from them. But the most disturbing thing was they were eating the dead bodies.
"What are they?" Enra grew sorrowful as he watched the corpses get devoured. "They're called jikininki, creatures who were selfish beings when they were alive and they are doing penitence in their deaths. Their avarice and self-wanting were so great that they were cursed and reborn in this sad state. They eat the human dead to survive and what worse they're self-aware, they know they're doing this and they hate themselves for it."
One such jikininki tore into an arm with sickening gusto, the sounds of its chewing on the old flesh disgusted Naruto and he would have emptied his stomach had he been in control. Another of the jikininki, an old guard, saw the others and a shrill shriek escaped its mouth. The other jikininki saw them and their cries joined in unison, amplifying the sounds with each voice.
"Didn't you say that they eat dead flesh?" Mata asked. Enra kept watching the undead creatures, "Yes, but there's nothing stopping them from attacking and killing live humans," He replied. He set Itachi down and grabbed Cora, shaking her and forcing her to snap back to reality. "Cora, I need you to stay with Mata, under his protection okay?" She nodded and rushed to Mata's side. Enra turned to the demon cat, "And you keep to Itachi. Watch over him until he gets his energy back, understand?"
"Say no more, I got it covered," He said and sat down next to Itachi. "What are you going to do?" Mata asked. Enra looked back at the jikininki gathering together. He flexed the hands he possessed and breathed deeply, "I'm going to stretch my legs and give these creatures the proper funeral they deserve." He took the stance he used to spar with Naruto; his left foot forward and his hands out and open. "The First Stance: Earth Guard." He whispered and readied himself for the first wave.
The jikininki rushed him, hungry for flesh. First it was three to charge ahead of the group. "Let's go then." One struck out with a right and Enra mirrored its move with his left fist. Enra saw for an instant that the jikininki had a claw instead of a hand as it wrapped around Enra's fist and tried to draw him in. Enra merely smiled and used its momentum to his advantage.
He drew back his left fist and threw out his right to strike its face. The force of the hit made the creature fly into its two companions and then them into the main group, resulting in a spectacular and comedic collision. The claws would explain the wounds on the dead. He thought. "You need to do better than that if you want a piece of this." He mocked.
"When I take this stance, no blow can do me harm. I am the very will of the earth personified. Now come, and be at peace!" He called and the ghouls screeched and rushed him again. A fist came from the left to be blocked by his left elbow while a swipe from the front was stopped by Enra grabbing its arm and swinging it to crash into the one on his left.
Another came from behind and two more from the front. The two facing him lashed out and he grabbed them too, using their momentum to throw them into the one sneaking up. Body for body, blow for blow, more and more kept coming and Enra fought them for each hit. What they lack in fighting skill they make up for in numbers. If they were actual fighters, this would be a long match. But I don't have time to waste.
As Enra fought, some stragglers broke off and went for Mata, Cora and Itachi. Mata blew some fireballs to cover a wider area and he fought fang and claw on single enemies, but more grew attracted to the sounds of battle and there was only one of him. This is growing to be a nuisance. I won't be able to keep up for long if they keep coming.
While they fought, Itachi studied Cora. He watched her shiver in fear as Enra and Mata duked it out. Are you afraid for your life or for them getting hurt? He focused so much on her that he didn't see one creeping from his blindside. Mata had gotten another one when he took notice. "Itachi, Cora, move!" He screamed and tried to take them. Enra was too far away and Mata had his hands full and Itachi tried to fight but was still too weak to move fast enough, so it was to everyone's amazement when Cora jumped up and pushed it with everything she had.
"No Cora! Stay away from them!" Mata yelled and made a dash for her. The jikininki was sent flying past Itachi, past Mata and even past Enra, crashing into the opposite wall some thirty yards away and barely in the light of the blue fireballs. The ghoul screamed again but this time not out of rage. Its skin started to crackle and break apart, with slivers of light shining through the cracks. It screamed again and again out of pain, writhing in agony as the light broke out through more cracks, eventually reaching its mouth and eyes. In a quick bright burst of light and one last scream the jikininki exploded flashily and perished.
The other jikininki, who witnessed what had happened, grew frightened and backed away from the girl and the two they fought with just before, as well as Enra, Mata and Itachi. When the ghouls had gone and left them alone, Enra looked at Cora in a new light. "Well, I don't know what she did, but that could come in handy."
A/N: And finally done here!
Sorry it took so long, been working crazy hours. I figured I should have introduced yet another one of demonic origin since there hasn't been a sighting for a while, and Itachi's back in the game. But the real interest is in the time passing…
More will be explained in the next chapter. Until then, R&R!