CHAPTER 33 - Band, Bane & Bonfire

An Upper Demon Moon in the courtyard. Screams resounded through the Mansion. Everyone was aghast. Shinobu, Kanao, Zoro, Tomioka, and Uzui hadn't expected the horrid welcome.

"What's going on?" Shinobu gasped.

Aoi was unconscious. Inosuke trembled to discover the flames and lightning and agony displayed through the carved-up pieces of Daki.

Despite being a Demon herself, Tamayo covered her mouth in repel.

"She wasn't like this when we brought her in." Tanjiro mentioned, disturbed like everyone else.

"Where is Captain Law?" Yushiro demanded.

Tears in Misturi's eyes. The smell of a Demon's burning flesh writhing in agony, whilst unable to perish from the misery.

"I told you, another Upper Demon Moon had showed up in the pursuit. Nezuko and Zenitsu stayed behind with the Captain."

"Take the kids inside." Tamayo bellowed. She couldn't take it anymore. She led Kiyo, Naho, and Sumi through the corridor. Tanjiro carried Aoi and went along with Inosuke. Kanao went after them from Shinobu's insistence. Inosuke shivered as they walked through the corridor.

"That was very unsettling." he said.

Tanjiro nodded.

The rest of the adults continued to observe the ordeal.

"Something must have gone wrong." said Tomioka.

"Captain Law mentioned a disturbing thought whilst his return." said Mitsuri.

"Wait, he was out?" Zoro was surprised.

Mitsuri nodded.

"He went to Tokyo. It seems you have a ship under construction." said Hinatsuru.

"We encountered Upper Demon Moons during our return." said Suma.

"You were with him?" Zoro asked, "Who are you people?"

"They are my wives." Uzui replied. Much as he wanted to hug all three of them, the unsettled situation made it unfit for any sort of happiness.

"Alright." Zoro accepted.

"So," Mitsuri continued, "we know that Kibutsuji is alive…"

"What?" Shinobu snapped.

"Please, Shinobu-chan, let me finish."

"How in the world is he alive?" Tomioka asked, losing his cool.

Mitsuri became teary-eyed once again, not being able to take the lash.

"Alright, calm down. Let her speak." Hinatsuru stepped in.

Tamayo had returned back to the courtyard.

"Thank you." Mitsuri wiped her tears. She continued, "Tamayo-san here is a Demon, who's…"

Blades clicked. Tomioka and Uzui drew their Nichirin swords. Zoro glared ahead ready to employ his Shusui.

"Please!" Mitsuri bellowed.

"You men have no common sense! Big bullies!" bellowed Suma, tears in her eyes.

"That's right." Shinobu turned around with a nod, "Especially, Tomioka."

Tomioka returned a look with an annoyed face.

"Alright, someone explain what's going on? Why do you think Kibutsuji is not dead and why are Demons in this Mansion? And I don't mean the Upper Moon." Uzui laid out the points.

Mitsuri yet in tears continued her explanation. There was a middle ground of acceptance for a Demon healer being in the Butterfly Mansion. But news of Kibutsuji being out in the wilderness did not sit well with anyone.

"I was with him for many years in the past." Tamayo said, "Despicable he is, but he is tenacious and knows to back up his weaknesses."

"What do you mean?" Tomioka asked, yet wary of the woman.

"He won't be killed by the usual means."

Zenitsu really wished Tanjiro had been there to comfort him from the terror. The Upper Demon Moon Gyutaro was on its last legs of existence. Relentless screaming. Law made sure to perpetuate the pain inflicted upon the Demon body, ripping apart every bone and tissue inside with the Gamma Knife. The bright pale-green energy from the Op-Op ability agonised the Demon.

"Stop!" Gyutaro yelled.

Law could hear no more. He had forgotten of his wounds and cared not for any mission at that moment. By his side, Nezuko had grown a full horn on her forehead with tattoo marks throughout his body. She observed the glow from the Gamma Knife with great attention listening to the squall of their common enemy.

The Heart Pirates Captain pushed his right arm into Gyutaro's body, getting hold of the Demon's heart. He pulled it out in a flash of aura. The Demon gasped for mercy. He couldn't care less if he was dead and yet he had reminded his oppressor that the Demon siblings couldn't be killed. The heart glowed green engulfed within the Devil Fruit ability. The Surgeon of Death ripped it off from the chest, dropping it on the ground. The heart didn't interest him. Instead, Law continued to grasp the green aura on his hands, which had turned into the shape of Gyutaro's face.

Zenitsu observed the terror and realised finding no life on the Demon's physical face. He knew decapitating the Demon showed no effect and yet, Captain Law held the Demon's soul on his palm. Was that a part of his Devil Fruit ability? Zenitsu couldn't fathom.

Nezuko grabbed Law's sword. Observing the demon's face in the aura, Nezuko drove the sword into it. The soul wailed for a few moments with the utmost desperation. The Demon Moon's body disintegrated soon after, leaving nothing but soot of its meagre remains that meant nothing in the aftermath.

All of a sudden, the existence of Daki was a much calmer ordeal to bear. No more screams, no more fire, no more lightning. No more the macabre. Silence engulfed the courtyard. All the conversations ceased.

There she was, Daki or Warabihime, known for her beauty as an oiran in the red-light districts of Tokyo, admired by many, envied by her peers, lay on the ground in parts, turned into a husk of her former self. It was as if life was sucked out of her very being as the blazes engulfed and razed through her 'immortal' existence. Did she give up? Was she done? Zoro and his team were wary of such attempts that could prove deceptive. Their recent revelation of the devious Kibutsuji gave them reasons to keep themselves on guard. Tamayo on the other side had no understanding whatsoever to the ghastly happenings that had taken place.

Daki, despite her dried-up appearance, muttered words that were broken.

"Wait. She just said something." Shinobu relayed.

"B… brother…" Daki, undecipherable let out the only word that made sense.

"Brother?" Uzui reiterated.

"She must have had a sibling back when she was human." said Yushiro, "Can't say why she remembers that?"

"Demons tend to recollect memories of their human life during times of death." explained Tamayo.

"Sure looks she's dying." remarked Makio.

"Can't be certain yet." Zoro said, "Something doesn't feel right."

Shinobu stepped in grabbing hold of the Demon's head.

"If Kibutsuji's alive, we'll need her to do our research. She'll of use." she said, requesting Tomioka to pick up the pieces. The latter grumped from her demand. Tamayo gave him a hand, picking them up. They headed inside.

Uzui and his wives hugged. The perturbing event was over and it was a good time as any for a reunion.

"We were almost devoured by that Demon." Suma wailed.

"Well, we were inside her obi, ready to be fed." said Hinatsuru, "We were outmanoeuvred. Couldn't believe a Demon pretended as one of the most prominent figures in the district."

"That doesn't matter. You three are back and back." Uzui replied.

"So are you." said Makio, "Heard you had to fight Demon Moons?"

"That I did. It's almost weird to hear of Demon Moons ever frequent since the past few weeks. It used to be hardly ever a Hashira would face a Lower Moon once in a long while, and now…"

Uzui looked upon Zoro as his words spoke. The latter sat down on the ground. He listened to the conversation, thinking of the problems that were piling up.

"His friend saved our lives, and he was astounding." Hinatsuru supported.

"I heard he fought with Shinazugawa?" Makio asked.

"And Shinazugawa was defeated." Uzui revealed, continuing to look upon the swordsman. Zoro observed them.

"What's wrong?" he asked, whilst gathered in his thoughts.

"He's great, alright. They both are. Deserving of the title of Hashira." Uzui told his wives.

The gate opened with Zenitsu and Nezuko entering through the Mansion. The latter was unconscious and lay on the arms of her fellow Demon Slayer. Law followed them, bloody and heaving. He held Moria's head inside the cage; a gesture of the successful retrieval.

Uzui was surprised to find the horn on the Demon girl.

"What happened?" he demanded.

"She's fine." Law replied.

"And what about you?" Uzui added.

Law found Zoro looking back at him with surprise.

"I heard of your face-off with Hawkins and Jack's crew?" the former asked.

"Yeah." Zoro replied, "You on the other hand..."

"The Demon Moon got the better of me." Law said, observing the others demanding an answer, "He's dead now."

"What happened with the kid girl?" Zoro asked.

Nezuko was sleeping. The demonic marks on her body were lesser than before, her horn slowly reverting back inside her forehead.

"She got a little agitated. Not that I blame her. That Demon Moon gave a fight."

"You don't look so good." remarked Makio, "You should head to the infirmary."

"Yeah, momentarily." Law replied with a hastened tone. He looked back upon Zoro, "We must plan ahead for retaliation."

"We need to return to the New World!" Zoro emphasised, "Our crews are waiting for us. We drag Jack and his cronies out with us as we head for sea."

"As much as I want to agree with you, we don't have a bearing. And that would mean disastrous should Jack find out and chase after us. We can't let the Beast Pirates run amok out here."

"Things don't look bright." Zoro remarked. His concerns had their weight.

"Not the reunion I was expecting." Tomioka showed at the courtyard, Shinobu following him.

"What happened?" the latter was shocked, seeing Law covered in blood. She observed Nezuko with her Demonic marks and horn, whilst Zenitsu lay her down on the floorboards.

Law remembered, "Where's the Moon-Demon? I sent the pieces with those kids."

"She's secured." Shinobu replied, not mentioning the ordeal a while back.

"Good, good. I managed to kill her brother, another Upper Moon, and now there's one less of them. That guy proved to be a bigger hassle than I had anticipated."

"And I believe you got wounded by the same?" Tomioka asked, to which Law nodded.

"We can discuss Demons later. You need immediate treatment." Hinatsuru urged.

Law had to comply in reluctance. There was nothing he said could have made any difference at that moment. The Demons were becoming formidable and there was the pirate situation to be dealt with. In the entirety, he found no peace as he walked inside.

TO BE CONTINUED...