Posts chapter and runs away...

Egyn ran.

Past the trees, thick roots curling along the undergrowth and barren branches swaying and creaking overhead. Underneath the worn-down torii, beyond the great tōrō lining the path, now buried under layers of white.

Snow and ice crunched beneath the heel of his boots. Wind clawed at him, stealing heat from fevered skin. The stairs were in sight now, heavy stone steps winding up the hill that housed Towada Shrine.

The smell of blood was stronger now, predominantly human but with a familiar demonic edge to it that made Egyn's teeth grind together.

That fucking idiot!

He reached the komainu, scowling beasts flanking the final torii and had barely touched the first step, the roof of Hachiro's honden just visible in the distance, when he felt the air above him shift.

Suppressing a scowl of his own, the King flung himself back, narrowly avoiding being sliced in half by blackened flesh. Mouth twisting into an unpleasant smile, Egyn leveled the hydra with an unimpressed stare.

"Well hello to you, too," he snarked. "This a bad time?"

"What are you doing here?" Hachiro snapped back, making Egyn's gaze narrow minutely.

Shifting his stance to something resembling innocence, the King made a noise of pure confusion, drawling it out in a way that never failed to grate people's (namely his sister's) nerves. "Eeeeh~? What's this, you're not even gonna ask how I've been? That's so cold, Hachi!"

The Hydra growled in warning, and Egyn mentally added a second tally.

"Seriously, I'd tell you to chill but—" his lips cracked into a grin, "you've already got the frigid bitch routine down pat, huh."

Snarling, Hachiro charged forward-

Only to crash down as his legs gave out beneath him.

"...Ne, Hachiro...?"

Egyn's voice was saccharine sweet, in stark contrast to the dark, ominous pressure bearing down on the area.

"You know I'd hate to kill you over something like this but if you insist on being stupid..."

He let the threat settle, impressing it on the other's skin with sharp winds that tore crimson lines on the demon that vanished far too quickly to be truly satisfying, waiting as patiently as he could for-

"...Forgive me..."

Egyn quirked a brow, corrosive energy flowing through his veins. Hachiro's eyes dropped to the toes of his boots.

"...Your Highness."

And just like that, the heavy tension dissipated.

"Sure!" the king enthused, a friendlier grin already slotting back in place as he sauntered to where the other still knelt. He offered Hachiro his hand, which the other took after some hesitation, and pulled him to his feet. "Forgiven, forgotten. But—"

His grip tightened, a hard glint entering purple eyes. "Don't try that shit again...Got it?"

Hachiro nodded sharply, and with that the matter was dropped.

"Good," Egyn said. "Shall we go up?"

xXx

"Heee, nice to know I wasn't the only one getting a slashy welcome!" Playfully nudging Hachiro's side with his elbow Egyn let his voice drop to a conspiratorial whisper. "You in a bad mood or… oh, don't tell me I interrupted a lover's spat?"

"She was being stubborn," Hachiro muttered, frowning at the unconscious redhead.

"Mhmm...so you cut her into pretty ribbons?" The king chuckled as Hachiro's face darkened. "Hey, I'm not judging! She'll heal up again soon right, so don't worry about it."

Egyn paused, considering the scarlet marks now adorning the admittedly gorgeous human.

"...Ne, Hachiro," he began, mischief in his voice and a dangerous twinkle in his eye. "Mind if I…?"

In an instant Hachiro stood between them. Egyn chuckled, amused by the angry hiss and the bared teeth and the utter lack of self-preservation the hydra was displaying despite the very recent reminder of just how hopelessly outclassed he was against someone like Egyn. Still, he hadn't made a move against the King, yet, and Egyn was feeling gracious enough to admit his comment was in bad taste.

"Got it. Got it," he chuckled, raising his hands in mock surrender. "I was kidding. No need to act all serious, you know."

"Your jokes go too far," Hachiro said flatly, unease lingering in the set of his shoulders.

Egyn hummed, conceding the point, and watched as the Hydra's eyes strayed to 'Tatsuko' again, troublesome worry openly blooming at her pale countenance.

She really didn't look too hot, no pun intended, lips already blue and the not inconsiderable amount of skin on display nearly as white as the snow she lay on. They could take her into the shrine, yes, but places like these had not been built with human comfort in mind.

What a pain, Egyn thought, walking over and bending down.

"What-"

"Relax, Egyn said, forestalling whatever rubbish Hachiro was about to spout and gathering the unconscious woman in his arms. Her head lolled onto his shoulder, labored breaths tickling his neck. "I'm just gonna take her somewhere warmer for now. Unless you'd like to see how well those powers of yours protect her from freezing to death?"

Silence rang out between them. Egyn watched the turmoil on Hachiro's face as the Hydra weighed his woman's suffering against the likelihood of Egyn actually bringing her back. For good measure he added, "I need her alive."

That sealed the deal.

"…You will return her," Hachiro said slowly. Not quite a question but not a statement either.

"I will."

"Alive," he added.

"You got it."

"And unharmed."

The king began to nod, paused and frowned.

"Does missing a limb or two count as unharmed?"

"Egyn."

"Joking! I'm joking. Fuck, you got boring, you know that. Look, I'll have her back here before the next sunrise, okay? That should be plenty of time for the heal up and then you and I can talk. Agreed? "

Hachiro was silent for a long while.

"I'm sending a familiar with you," he said finally.

"Do whatever you want, you suspicious ass," Egyn groaned, getting annoyed again. "Kay, I can't feel my face anymore so I'm off." Grip secure on his oh so precious cargo – ugh - he headed back to the stairs, then paused, glancing over his shoulder, "Want me to get you anything on the way back? Food, books, clothes from this century?"

The question earned him eight simultaneous eye rolls.

xXx

And really, Egyn should have known things wouldn't work out so easily. Lady luck was a capricious broad at the best of times, but anything involving Samael was doomed to go sideways for everyone but the bastard himself.

xXx

Under the guidance of Hachiro's familiar, a small naga with horns resembling miniature antlers, the walk to the inn was tedious but brief. Egyn spent the majority of it working out what food to order. Something that would pair well with warm sake; he deserved a treat and it'd be nice to unwind a little while he waited for his charge to come to and he couldn't shake the bothersome feeling like he was forgetting something.

But then, it couldn't be that important, right?

With the decrepit building in sight — another one? Samael not giving a damn about building maintenance he gets, what with his older brother being such an unrepentant cheapskate but what did these people have to excuse this fucking embarrassment. Don't people pay to stay here? — he was shuffling through expressions, putting together his best oh-god-I-need-help face for whomever was at the reception when a frisson ran along his skin.

Oh, come on—

"The other one, I presume," Egyn lamented, looking past the twin barrels aimed at his face - his face. Really. Horrible target aside, that's just fucking rude! - to give the bespectacled exorcist an unimpressed glare.

"Shura!" And there was Sword Brat, slipping past his twin. Egyn eyed the blade in his hands, pleased to it was still tucked away in its sheath.

Good. The last thing he needed was Samael voiding their agreement over something like Egyn not keeping a low enough profile.

"Look," he began, doing his best to appear non-threatening, or as non-threatening as a high-ranking Demon King could get what with the aura and the fangs and the roughed-up unconscious chick in his arms and oh, why the fuck does he even bother. "No need to do anything rash here-"

"Unhand her," four-eyes demanded, cocking his weapons.

Egyn's eye twitched at the tone but pressed on. "...Sure thing. Let's ditch the weapons, go inside and-"

"He said let her go!" Sword Brat exclaimed, reaching for the handle of his sword.

You know what, fuck it!

Sword Brat's gasp of surprise got cut off quickly, morphing into a silent gurgle as icy water rushed down his throat. His grip on the sword loosened, a stupid rookie mistake that Egyn was all too happy to exploit. A small tug and it dropped down to the ground, out of the water prison and well out of the half-breed's reach.

Glasses was harder, but only marginally so. The kid had tensed with his brother's arrival, a subtle but exceedingly familiar look of sibling exasperation along with something else crossing his face. And when brat nr. one rushed ahead, accompanied by some rapidly fired bullets from his twin, all it took was a sidestep and a little wayward snow blasted right in brat nr. two's face to keep him from shooting at Egyn's (magnificent) body.

Fucking amateurs.

A small nod and more snow-turned-water rushed up from the ground, encapsulating the younger brat's hands, pulling them straight down before turning solid once more.

"Damnit!" Glasses cursed, tugging uselessly at his frozen bonds.

"And that's two," Egyn said mildly, thoroughly bored and already making his way past the two teenagers. "Now if you two dumbasses are done wasting time, I suggest we go inside, I get some food, you patch her up, and then we can all yell at Samael together. Yeah? Cool."

And Iblis says he can't work well with others. Hah!

Sorry it took so long