Hellfire spiraled out spectacularly into the void, crackling with such demonic fury. "Vengeance will be mine!" Isae roared defiantly as she thrust her clawed hand into the air, channeling the vibrant purple flames higher. Her face lit up eagerly, surely it would work this time!
Suddenly it fizzled out, absorbed by the void, and that was it. She sank down to her knees in disbelief. Her limbs trembled stubbornly but her strength was finally spent.
"Have you finally had enough already?" A rough voice mocked her from behind.
She turned away from it. "Don't you even-" She scowled as she felt his shadow fall over her. She must really be at the end of her strength if she couldn't silence him any longer. Being the new Right-Hand didn't spare her the annoying presence of the original.
"You can't shut me out forever," Akihiro's tone softened. "Or run away from who you really are."
"Not this again!" She forced herself up to her feet. At this point she was too weak to maintain her Enraged form and shifted into her petite shadow self. She scowled as she noticed he maintained his Inuzuka visage. "Seriously, have you no shame?" She asked in exasperation. How could he cling to that fragile form when he knew the power of the divine?
"You're the one who ought to feel shame," he frowned down at her.
"You're just jealous that He trusts me more than you," She bragged.
He easily kept his cool. "He doesn't trust anyone, not me then and certainly not you."
She jabbed a finger into his chest. It rippled on contact, revealing itself to be nothing but a memory. "You're not even real yet you do nothing but lecture me!"
He shook his head wryly as he folded his arms across his chest. "You can't run away from this anymore Izzy, its time to face the facts."
"Which are-?" She asked sarcastically as she held her hands up in dramatic anticipation.
"He's deliberately weakened you."
She blinked in surprise at first then she frowned suspiciously. "That's ridiculous," she scoffed. "I've received His Blessing more than anyone."
"Yes, you have, before every mission in fact," he pointed out. "And why is that? If you're really so strong why would you continually need His strength?"
She flinched at the truth of his words. "Because He trusts me," she attempted to counter. Akihiro reached into her soul, causing her to gasp as he withdrew her Soul Blade.
"Then why is it that your Soul Blade has warped beyond recognition?" He shook it in her face.
"That was the mortal's fault," she said dismissively. "He's corrupted it."
"Look closely then," he encouraged her. "Is it corruption? Or restoration?"
She took it from him and peered at it with a critical eye. The thin silver lines gleamed against the dark twisted metal. He withdrew his for comparison. She frowned curiously as its color was a brilliant silver. "Do you remember your Resolve?"
She nodded. "Vengeance on humanity for their crimes against us."
He shook his head sadly. He turned and with a wave of his hand, he conjured a scene before them. She recognized it as a scene from the past. It was the creation of her Soul Blade. She hadn't noticed before its brilliant shade of silver but there was denying it.
"Now seal it with your resolve. Declare with purpose your intent." He had instructed. "What do you want more than anything?"
"I want to be a hero...just like y-you."
"And I have been," she protested. "I have protected our Brethren from the treachery-"
He snapped his fingers to change the scene once more. It was just before The Ordeal, where she had to rely on the strength of her resolve. She let the memory wash over her as she stood transfixed. It wasn't just a vague notion of heroism. It was quite specific. It was for something worth fighting for. Something worth protecting. I want to be strong enough to protect my friends.
She squeezed the Soul Blade in her hands as she thought back to her battle with that boy. "His resolve…was the same as mine. To protect, to save…" she trailed off thoughtfully. Her blade grew warm in her palm. She marveled as the silver veins continued to spread through the dark metal. Far from invasive, it eased some of the usual tension she felt in connection with her Soul Blade. "What went wrong with it before?" She mused aloud.
"Because you failed the Ordeal."
She looked horrified at that. "What are you talking about? It was the hardest thing I've ever endured!"
"No, you took the easy way out remember?" He refuted with another snap. The scene changed to His appearance. "Let me take this from you…"
"Oh…" she said softly as she watched His presence overwhelm her. "That's right…He did intervene."
"He did more than that," he scoffed. "It was a deliberate attempt to weaken you. That's why you required His Blessings to progress."
Her shoulders sagged in disappointment. "So, in the end…my resolve wasn't strong enough."
"We were both in over our heads." He admitted. "I could only prepare you so much."
She considered him thoughtfully as she saw regret in his rugged features. To her surprise a smile spread across his face. "Thank goodness that Shino-kun's resolve has remained constant."
She felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. That name, it finally dawned upon her, that was his name. Her chest tightened as suddenly the void erupted into a stream of memories, each one revolving around this vexing mortal. She looked around apprehensively, but Akihiro seemed at his ease. "Even though you succeeded in locking him tightly away, he's always been there, just as I have," he reassured her.
She curiously reached out to tap into various scenes. There was the time he healed her burned hand during sentry duty.
"You didn't have to do that." She had protested.
"Of course I did, comrades look out for one another." He wasn't at all deterred by her following refute. "It is about loyalty. And sharing the burden duty requires."
She turned away from it as another caught her eye. There he was in the hospital sleeping in the chair at her bedside. He had stayed the entire night, just because she had asked it of him. She continued to walk along in awe of it all. Akihiro was right, he had been constant through it all. Mortality didn't weaken his conviction any.
Then there was the time she realized he was connected to her transitioning trauma. Even as she threatened to slip through his fingers, he held her close. "You are strong Isae. I have never doubted it for a second. I know you can do this, I just wish you wouldn't do this alone."
She marveled at the faith he had in her then. She cringed as she realized she hadn't seen the like from Him. He pushed her to excel by humiliating her failures when such and such task had been easy for her Father. His stinging taunts always mingled with the threat of being replaced. It was a threat He'd made good on others in the past. She knew she was powerful, but she didn't have the luxury of contentment in said strength. To be surrounded by Shino's support puzzled her. It was more than that though. His strength was equally at her disposal, a genuine team effort.
Another caught her eye and she felt compelled to tap into this particular memory. It was just before the Ordeal as they said goodbye. They rested forehead to forehead, his hand embedded in her tangled hair. Strangely it started to mesh with the most recent memory of her last battle where he attempted to repair the damage he just delivered to her Soul Blade.
"Promise me that you'll return."
"Don't! Don't leave me!"
"I must insist upon it."
"Hold on Isae, please…"
"I won't lose you again."
"I was supposed to save you."
"I did promise him. I gave him my word," she whispered in awe. She brought the Soul Blade up to her lips, nibbling on the tip absent-mindedly. She marveled at the thought of her wanting to reject such power to remain mortal. How naïve is that?
Forgive me Shino. She looked over her shoulder to see their final scene unfold: their final farewell. There she hovered over his fractured frame as silver tears beaded beneath her hollow eyes. The Soul Blade hummed in her hand, similar to how a heart would ache at a memory. "I loved you. I just never…I mean I can't…"
Her jaw hung open in absolute shock. Love? What? Since when? She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. "This has to be your doing," she accused him. "I'd never be this sentimental."
He shook his head. "These memories are entirely your own. In this form I can only help you recall memories from both of us. My role now is only to guide the current Right-Hand."
She didn't look entirely convinced, stubborn to the last. The sight made him smile, there was still hope then. "You know Izzy," he began as he slowly approached her side. "My humanity was just a facade, even though it was of my choosing. I am demonic. The same is not true with you and so both sides war within because of that."
She lowered her eyes in shame, unable to hold the direct gaze of a man who was at peace with himself. She flinched as he wrapped his arms around her in a semblance of an embrace. "I'm not good at either one, am I?" She confessed aloud. "I'm weak both as mortal and demon."
"Is it weakness though?" He gently prompted.
She frowned in thought as she considered the implication. She continued to survey the various scenes as they cycled through each memory. Shino was mortal but definitely wasn't weak. He held up well in their last battle, enough to damage her Soul Blade. No wait…She looked back at the blade still in hand. An uneasy knot began to twist in her center as she pulled away. "He didn't just damage this, but attempted to repair it. Has that ever been done before?"
He shook his head. "Not to my knowledge."
She looked it over thoroughly, end to end, poised between her fingertips. "I think he infused his will with my original one, which would explain why its meshed together so completely."
Now it was his turn to frown curiously as he peered closer. "I think it's still spreading."
He was right, the thin silver threads began to thicken, covering more of the surface. It hummed in her hand, resonating with such warmth. It brought a smile to her lips to think of his strength combining with her own. Mortal and demonic, harmony in both. Perhaps this can work, she thought in a fit of rare optimism.
Suddenly a low rumble began to echo in the void, dark and ominous. The scenes about them began to darken, crumbling at the edges. They looked around warily. It grew in strength until it became a deafening roar with a gale force that obliterated the memories altogether. "What's going on?" She shouted to be heard above the howl.
He caught hold of her wrist that held the Soul Blade. "What if Shino-kun's strength wasn't the only thing that connected? What else did you share?"
The uneasy knot turned into a leaden weight as she recognized the surrounding fury as her own.