XXI. Flower Garden
As quickly as one battle ended, another endeavor was about to begin. Seishiro let the magic feather emerge from his body, the talisman bringing forth a strong burst of blue reverberating light as it levitated in his hand. The ground he was standing on breaks apart from the wall, from the prying eyes of those below, into a stalactite of rock. Now he was rising up into the sky, where finally, Seishiro's wish could be granted.
"Seishiro!" Syaoran yelled in vain, no doubt wondering what he was going to do with the feather.
It did not matter now.
Nothing mattered now.
At long last, he had finally found it.
"Yes! I've tracked you down! After all my searching, immortality is mine! Everyone, I would like you to meet the bearer of eternal life, the strongest demon there is!"
He could feel the restlessness in his voice, his body, his entire being consumed – it was absolutely electrifying.
So this was how it felt to get something he wanted, something that he tossed and turned nights dreaming about.
It felt…
Good.
So good.
A beam shoots from the ball of light that was now the feather, interrupting and producing a wave of energy. Those below had to hang onto their swords or each other in order not to get blown away from the explosion of air. One of Seishiro's previous demons evaporated into the nothingness that now permeated the world, leaving nothing but a wisp of dark energy – for another demon was about to take its place.
The feather sparked again and again in Seishiro's hand.
Soon another matter of dark energy took form, the air turning cold as the gargantuan demon rose above the ground, but with a hand outstretched. Almost as if…it had something there, something to show.
Seishiro noticed this, and realized. "It is such an honor to meet you. I've been looking forward to this deal. The time has come."
In the demon's hand was the form of a woman, clad in a black corset-style sleeveless dress, twilight laced gloves that ran past her elbow, and wild ebony hair. She wore a necklace in the styling of a cross near her bosom, as well as a black choker. She stood regally in the demon's hand, unfazed by the dilapidation and the wonder around her, like that of a shrine untouched by atom bombs. The woman truly was a sight to behold…a strongly familiar one at that.
The enigmatic woman winked, no doubt amused by her audience. "Hope I don't disappoint."
In midst of the excitement buzzing inside the vessel of his being, finally able to meet the one who could grant him the one thing he desired, Seishiro could hear the comments of surprise from down below.
"Wait - The A-1 Demon is a woman?" Syaoran exclaimed, disbelief in his voice.
The warrior was bewildered as well. "It's the woman from the club."
The boy turned to his teacher. "So you've seen her before?"
The girl and the magician were amazed as well. The girl known as Sakura exclaimed, "It can't be…"
The magician replied by saying, "You knew her too?"
There was a pause as Seishiro took all of this in. They must have no idea who they were facing…no idea of the magnitude, the importance of this one person.
It was all so ironic that the one individual, the one being who could give so much to him, open so many doors, was a woman.
"So that's the source of all this destruction – the power to turn dreams into reality?" The woman noted, addressing both the feather and its holder.
"That's right," Seishiro replied. "It's because of this little feather here that I can finally meet you face to face – she with the power to grant eternal life, the A-1, the ultimate demon."
The feather sparked once more, and then a few more times, almost erupting in Seishiro's grasp. His eyes widened as the feather's rays of light multiplied en masse, creating a sakura tree in one corner of Fairy Park, and an aged museum in another corner. The power of this talisman was going haywire – but why?
"Just as I thought," the figure's voice oozed with a satisfaction that proved all too familiar to Seishiro's ears. "You are not able to control the feather's power, are you, Interloper?"
Said Interloper chucked inwardly. "Can tell, can you?"
"Yes." She looked into the crowd, spotting one person in particular. "After all, I know who the feather belongs to."
The talisman flickered again as the establishment known as the Cat's Eye suddenly appears in a pink haze of light. The sign regarding it falls at Syaoran's feet. Clearly the business, though short lived, meant something to him, as well as the rest of his friends. It was funny how one thing could mean so much.
"If you just wanted to meet me, you didn't have to be so dramatic about it. You could have just played the game like everyone else." The woman says to Seishiro.
He replies by stating, "It's true. I could have." There is a lingering edge to his voice.
"Had you gone inside the Dream Capsule and sign up as a demon hunter, eventually you would have reached the game, where there was no one left to fight but me. After all that's how the game works. If you keep getting stronger and stronger, you will eventually face the strongest of demons."
"Yes, but that would have taken a great deal of time." His right eye flashes. "And time is the one thing that I don't have enough of."
Demons emerge from the woodwork, bursting with great force from the inside of buildings, and start attacking the group of fighters, who are able to fend them off with a mix of technique and vigor.
It is not known until later that Syaoran had started climbing up the side of one of the amusement park's attractions, the Ferris wheel, with great focus. He loses his grip once, almost plummeting to the ground until he grabs onto another spoke – a gruesome fate was averted. At least for now.
"Well, I guess I don't have any right to complain. After all, when these promising new demon hunters first appeared in Outo, I took advantage of your strange entrance into this world to hide my identity from them."
"You told them I was the demon they sought?"
"Yes, I did. It's true that I met a handsome young man who had the ability to control the demons. However, it turns out that that man… wasn't really a demon himself."
"And you – not only did you play the role of the A-1 demon in the game, you're also alive in the real world, correct?"
"Yes, that's right."
"And are you the same in real life as you are in the game?"
"No." The woman declared firmly.
Seishiro continues, his speculative mind ever whirring, it gears working into overdrive. "Is it true – this rumor that you are able to grant a person eternal life?"
"Indeed."
"Excellent –then let's get right to the point." Though careful not to show it, there was a unsettled feeling in Seishiro's stomach – the uncertainty of just what lay ahead, of just where the scale of fate would tip, and in who's favor.
"I've learned your real name outside the game."
A breath.
"Subaru. Correct?"
The woman blinks once, and then closes her eyes. "You're wrong." There is no sign of remorse in the words she utters.
Seishiro stood firm, almost clutching onto the feather in his hand, even though there was a whole mix of emotions welling up inside him. Of course – it was all too good to be true.
Mother was right.
A flash blinds him once more, and suddenly he is back at his childhood home, in the backyard to be precise. All at once, his senses are overwhelmed.
The hovering smell of flora in the air.
The slick touch of grass kissed by dew under his hands.
The fresh, sweet taste that had appeared in his mouth.
The noise of crickets and birds chirping.
The sight of the dozens and dozens of flowers littered amongst the red shrine before him, gold ornaments hanging from the many prayers that held it.
He looks around, and, after processing it for a few moments, realizes just exactly where he is.
In his mother's flower garden.
Where it all started.