Hands of darkness rose up, when Tenkai, Akechi, attacked Oichi, a show of power that did not deter him. Saki awaited, hidden, staring at the ruins of what had once been a yard, the gates still broken, blown open by the old Fugaku's strike.
The soldiers and servants that awaited the return of their Lord, as promised by Tenkai, as foretold by Oichi-sama herself, screamed in fear and rushed in, plucked away from the ground, tossed aside like rag dolls, lifeless, staining the ground red as they were crushed against the rock and soil.
Despite being limp and livid she fought. It was actually a terrifying sight to watch. The people that had gathered for the Oda had been dealt with. All that was left to focus on was Akechi who attacked with a single-minded determination. She barely reacted when the scythes ether nicked or hit her, the darkness that flowed around her protecting her figure.
The hands gathered from many, flowering around her feet to two, grew monstrous when the woman screamed, not a sound of pain but of a deep grief and sorrow, perfectly still over a swirling well of pitch black.
Akechi was faltering, swaying under the weight of his own scythes, the hands Oichi commanded having slashed away at him many times, never quite able to grip him and crush him down, looking up at the final blow that was surely coming.
"I… failed? But… I've drawn enough of your blood, enough to revive that man…" He mumbled as the clawed, clenches gigantic hands slammed down on him, pinning him to the ground, crushing and piercing. "The enemy is at Honnoji!" He was shouting, the sound of his voice growing in pitch as his life faded, a last breath of madness and fevered revenge. "Nobunaga I will kill you one more time!" He laughed before gurgling, dying once and for all.
From her perch Saki fidgeted. Oichi was swaying around, looking worried. The darkness around, the very night was starting to grow stifling, oppressive, tainted red. And then it bled from the ground itself, swallowing the bodies littered about. Saki's eyes widened as she looked around making sure that... gate... was not reaching her.
The Devil King emerged from it, still in that grey armour, still wearing the blood red cape that had been his hallmark in life. But there was nothing human left in the eyes that showed a red glow, a harsh feature on the stoic face.
"The sewer rat that died once, clinging to your shrivelling life…" He said disdainfully, the raspy voice carrying in the night.
"Nii-sama…" Oichi whispered. But it was just a fact, stated neutraly. There was no fear in the word any longer. She stood straighter, taller, with purpose. All went unnoticed by Oda Nobunaga who gave her a passing glance before staring at the sky, not even smirking.
"Ichi… yours was a great deed." He praised without feeling, like one might tell a pet. "You heard the voice of my birth which makes all things rejoice and despite your human body came to me without hesitation… you have my praise. Come!" Oichi shook her head, hands clasped in front of her chest. Startled by the blatant disobedience Oda showed a bit of anger. "What is this supposed to mean?"
Saki swallowed her fear at the witnessed rebirth and appeared next to the woman. Oichi glanced at her for a moment, a bit of recognition showing."
"The One-Eyed Dragon almost gave his life to fight you. I will not allow an abomination like you to threaten this land again." The shinobi said. It was just another fight, no matter how powerful he looked, no matter what had been done in the past.
"Ichi remembers you..." She whispered as Oda fumed, still flabbergasted by the defiance. "On the battlefield... you tried to stop all the bullets. You offered Ichi a hand."
"You did not take it." Saki answered. "I felt for you Oichi-sama."
"Ichi loved Nagamasa-sama. Ichi did not want to leave... but..." She swayed, shaking her head, smiling a bit behind the sadness in her eyes. "The meaning of Ichi's life is to take Nii-sama to the depths."
"I will fight at your side for now." Saki offered. One of the hands of darkness gripped her by the waist suddenly, lifting her in the air.
"Ichi thanks you but this is Ichi's task..." She whispered, stepping forward slowly.
"Die." Oda Nobunaga had had enough, the shotgun he used pointing towards his sister. Saki twisted with the hand's grip, noticing it was just keeping her away from battle, tossing a kunai, defending the shot as Oichi floated up in gloom hands, striking down with thousands of claw-like fingers.
Each strike was a slash.
The shotgun was knocked out of his gauntleted hand.
He waves his broadsword to fight the darkness. Oichi screamed, the darkness gathering, thickening. Saki closed her eyes for a moment, affected by the sudden shake the hand that held her made, allowing her down, away from the place where the darkness when mad, reacting, attacking in all directions, barely giving Oda time to react.
It all faded away suddenly, leaving the woman fallen, a bit away from the warrior, hands gripping, pinning him. A thin sword speared him through the chest, the ghostly form of Azai Nagamasa letting go of it, his expression determined.
Oda seemed somehow still, frozen in the darkness, the weapons fallen to the ground, the red cape that had waved like a flag of war fallen, listless.
Saki's eyes widened as Azai approached Oichi, embracing her, whispering in a farway voice, praising her for her determination, for finally being able to act, to move on even against the fear, the duty, the things that had been hammered into her mind until she broke. His spirit had lingered, waiting for his wife, the one who had seen him die, the one that had held him as life faded away from his eyes, taken by the man she had just killed, compromised by the man that was now frozen by the darkness stemming from her smaller body.
Oichi wept in her husband's arms as the darkness bubbled up one again in a smaller ring, taking both of them and the imprisoned one to the depth once again, a true smile finally tracing her lips. Azai looked at her with love, his ghostly form caressing her hair.
Oichi's duty was to be shared with her husband. Guardians of the Devil King for eternity but finally reunited.
In the desolate fortress at the break of dawn Saki dried her tears with a small smile. In the end it hadn't been a true threat, had it?
