Chapter ELEVEN: The Meeting
Her mind swirled, her thoughts and memories clashing as she struggled to gain consciousness and awaken from what seemed like a nightmare. The past mixing with the present in a deadly duel that threatened to tear her from the inside out, not allowing her to determine what was really going on or allowing her to tell if it was all just some flashback from her childhood.
Voices pounded against her skull and threatened to drown her in a river of chaos and darkness.
Swimming to the surface, tears spilled down her cheeks as she was pulled in deeper by the currents, which refused to allow her to rise up and move on. She was trapped.
What's your name?
Kaoru...
My name is Shinta.
She suddenly froze as the voices seemed to become louder and louder as she drifted deeper and deeper into the darkness of the river.
You must live on my daughter! You must live as the last of our kind so that one day you may destroy the weapons that destroyed us.
Her mind screamed as the voices enveloped her entire body when she sank into the dark depths of her own past.
Your blood flows through me, and mine in yours. You belong to me now, and I keep what's mine.
I will get my freedom, this I vow to you, Amaterasu.
I won't. I'll hold you until you go to sleep. I promise you I'll be here once you wake up. Just go to sleep.
Crying won't get you anywhere.
But are you a Kamiya?
My name is Kaoru.
Her body screamed for air as she struggled to reach the surface, her mind screaming to be left alone as she waved her arms, trying her best to swim to the top. The harder she tried, the louder the words became as her memories swarmed and images appeared, blocking her vision.
Kaoru, you should know better than to use your magic for your own self gain. As a Kamiya, you must only use your magic for good and the benefit of those around you.
We're the last of our kind, you must be proud and honored to be a sorceress.
Run, Kaoru, run! Don't ever turn around! Run!
Father!
xXoXx
A piercing scream gathered the attention of the occupants of the Aoiya as they all turned in the direction of the darkened hallway.
"Lady Kamiya," whispered Okon as she stopped in her tracks from leading the Lords to their rooms. She stood frozen just before the entrance of the infamous inn.
"Did you just say 'Kamiya'? What is a sorceress doing here?" asked a man with a brown beard and mustache, dressed in what looked like a brown western outfit.
"You should know that Lord Battousai has brought the girl to find the weapons, Okubo," said a lycan with gray hair and piercing red eyes, his black attire allowing him to blend into the shadows of the inn.
"Jineh," said Lord Okubo darkly as he bared his fangs.
The two faced each other, only a few meters apart as they advanced, but before they could move they stepped back as they felt a gust of wind blow through them.
Shuddering internally from the dark feeling, the two only looked around until they heard a snap of a door shutting near the source of the scream.
"Seems like Lord Battousai hasn't lost his touch," mused a lycan with white hair in an orange and blue outfit. His navy blue cape hanging to his sides like a pair of wings.
"I see that you haven't lost your sense of humor either, Enishi," said Lord Shishio as he appeared just outside of the Aoiya in his lavender robes. His action caused the lycan, who had been leaning against the inside of the inn doors, to stand up and glare at him.
The vampire's mate only snickered as she hung onto his left arm, her red and white kimono dragging to the floor as she smiled up at her Lord. Yumi only looked through the crowd and felt a bit worried when she didn't see any of her siblings. She was looking forward to meeting Soujiro after so many years, but kept silent from asking where they were. She didn't want to cause the others to become suspicious and realize that the three were actually related.
After a long, intense silent, a serious voice drifted down towards the group of Lords.
"Please follow me to the Conference Room as we wait for Lord Katsu, Saitou, Amakusa, and Yamagata to arrive," said Omasu as she came down from the second floor. She wore a traditional black kimono with blue flower imprints and her hair was pinned up as usual, it was the same attire that Okon was dressed in as well.
"Very well," said Okubo, leading the other men toward the large room that was located in the very center of the Aoiya.
xXoXx
The eldest of the Elders glided down the streets of Kyoto as he made his way toward the Aoiya, his senses alert as he thought of a way to dispose of the ever annoying half breed.
"Battousai," a familiar vampire voice said as a figure appeared before the Vampire Lord.
"Have my men been preparing for the upcoming battle against the demons?" asked Battousai as he walked past the man.
"Yes, but have you managed to collect the last of the weapons needed?" asked Saitou as he followed his leader, keeping in mind to stay a few meters behind the creature before him.
"I'll gain the twin kodachi soon enough once I take the life of the half breed," said Battousai with a grin as he stopped and faced his follower.
Stopping, Saitou only a raised an amused eyebrow to his lord as his own amber orbs met Battousai's bloodlust ones.
"Okina has promised me the swords if I get rid of the half breed for him, but I don't like to make bargains," Battousai said with a deadly grin.
"So you're asking me to dispose of her for you?" stated Saitou as he returned the grin.
"More like ordering," corrected Battousai a bit darkly as the other vampire nodded in understanding.
"Shall I eliminate her…" began Saitou, but stopped when Battousai raised a hand.
"Damn…" cursed Battousai as he suddenly vanished.
Staring after the other Elder, the vampire only narrowed his eyes as an agonizing scream reached his sensitive ears, it was so light that he could have mistaken it for the wind if his lord hadn't left so quickly. Just as suddenly as the other vampire had left, Saitou vanished into the shadows with his new task in mind.
xXoXx
Her body was numb, she couldn't feel anything as she sank deeper and deeper into the darkness as it wrapped its fingers around her, dragging her down into what seemed like a bottomless river. She had long since given up screaming for help, she knew that no one would hear her, knew that no one would save her. Her mind seemed to blank out, the voices that had once plagued her were no longer there to keep her company. She was alone.
Closing her eyes, she welcomed the darkness as it hugged her body and seemed to comfort her.
Thinking back, she realized that the darkness had helped her remain sane, had blocked out the voices that were troubling her mind. The darkness wasn't her enemy, but instead it was her one true friend. It was the only thing that she could trust. Darkness would forever be there by her side. She realized right then and there that her only companion in the world was Darkness.
Giving in, she allowed her body and mind to drift off into nothing.
'Is this how it feels to die?' Questioned Kaoru to herself, the numbness in her body suddenly fading.
"Trust me, dying isn't at all peaceful," mocked a deep and cold voice, sending shivers down the girl's spine as the black barrier that had made its way around her began to fade and shatter before her very eyes.
Snapping her eyes open, Kaoru threw her arms around the being's neck and allowed tears to fall from her cheeks, holding onto his neck as if her very life depended on it. Her body shook as warm arms wrapped around her lithe form and easily managed to support her as the man stood up.
"Crying won't get you anywhere," said the rich voice as Kaoru looked up and smiled as she met amused amber orbs.
"Battousai," whispered Kaoru as she moved her head to the crook of his neck, seemingly forgetting the fact that she was cuddling up against the very man that had captured her and threatened to kill her.
"That should teach you not to be so stupid," snapped Battousai a bit darkly as his right hand subconsciously rubbed against her back, coaxing her to relax her muscles and mold against his own masculine frame.
"Don't leave me," whispered Kaoru as her eyelids became heavy and she slowly fell back into a deep slumber against a very powerful and irritated vampire.
xXoXx
"Just because of a few misplaced demons, you expect me to cancel my wedding and kill my mate?" asked Aoshi enraged as he stood up, icy spheres looking into dark navy ones.
"I never said that you had to kill your mate. I merely explained to you that you cannot go through with this wedding. If you do, she will die," stated Soujiro as he stood up and met his friend's deadly gaze with his own defiant ones.
"Not as long as I have the twin kodachi of the Seven Dark Diamond Weapons of Hell. No one will touch her as long as I have them within my power," said Aoshi, clenching an enraged fist so hard that he almost shook.
"Why must you protect her? Why are you acting like this? You're a lycan, you hate half breeds, and you're disgusted by them. Tell me why you're so determined to mate with her! Is she that important? Is she more important than your reputation and the lives of your own species?" asked Soujiro, fighting back the urge to punch some sense into the creature before him.
"I hate vampires as well, but you don't see me killing you," snapped back Aoshi as the two stared at each other.
"I know that we're supposed to be enemies, and I know that you dislike me due to the fact that I'm also against your decision to marry Lady Tomoe, but you must understand that if you go through this, her life and your own will at stake," said Soujiro as his features softened a bit.
"I have to marry her," whispered Aoshi, his eyes begging his friend in battle to understand, even though his face betrayed nothing.
"We've fought many battles together, learned to fight together, we ate together, befriended two wonderful creatures together, we even made sure that the demons didn't take over five decades ago, each time we have always come out on top and victorious. But this is one battle that we can't fight together," said Soujiro as he turned his back on his old friend and foe, walking solemnly toward the exit of the room.
"Explain to me why we ever became friends in the first place," said Aoshi, his voice stopping the vampire in his tracks.
"It's because we were both loyal to the Old Code and we understood each other like brothers. Or rather we use to," said Soujiro as he looked at Aoshi with saddened eyes.
"I have to claim her before the full moon, Soujiro," said Aoshi as the two faced each other.
Soujiro only shook his head.
"She must be something for you to throw away your past and your future for her. I wish you luck in your marriage," said Soujiro as slid open the shoji door.
"You don't understand, Soujiro. I have to mate with her before the full moon," whispered Aoshi.
"No one's going to stop you, but there are some that are going to stop her. Even with two of the Seven Dark Diamond Weapons on your side, you'll…no she'll be outnumbered," stated Soujiro as he left the room and snapped the rice paper door shut.
"No one understands," said Aoshi to himself as he sat down and looked at the two kodachi that were placed within his room. The two special weapons that were made out of Dark Diamond.
xXoXx
The Conference Room was fairly large and had nothing within except for a dozen green tatami mats that were laid out to make a large circle. On the ground in the center of the room was a map of Japan. Along the walls were black candles that lit the entire room, yet left an eerie feeling in its wake. The walls were not made of rice paper, but of wood so that the sounds made within would be absorbed by the wood and not go through it like the thin material that made up the rest of the inn. Then above on the ceiling was the traditional black star, which represented darkness and power.
Along the right side of the room sat Lord Shishio, Okubo, and Soujiro while on the other sat the Lycans: Lord Jineh, Enishi, and Okina. Only four people were missing and they were Vampire Lords: Saitou and Katsu and Lycan Lords: Yamagata and Amakusa. The two tatami mats that were the closest together and were facing the other ten were reserved for the eldest of the group and the sorceress.
This had been the arrangement for the past meetings for centuries, but this time not only was there one more person, but that person was a female, and sorceress at that. The thought had the creatures of the night pondering about what had gotten into the immortal vampire, but they knew that Battousai wasn't one to do anything without a good reason.
"Well, what do you all suppose that the red stars on the map mean?" asked Okubo as he stroked his brown beard and looked at the others after a long silence.
"They're the locations of the major sightings of the demons. Lord Battousai ordered one made a few months ago," informed Soujiro with his usual smile plastered on his face, his features betraying none of his real emotions.
"What I don't get is why we're wasting our time in sending our best fighters to finish off these demons that barely caused a threat five decades ago. Battousai is merely making this a bigger deal than it really is, he's overreacting," said Enishi as he adjusted his glasses before crossing his arms over his chest.
"That's where you're wrong. You see, the demons have grown, not only in numbers but in strength and intelligence as well," defended Okina. "It's because of this that we all must step in as one and set aside our differences so we can put those demons in their places. The fact that the demons are slowly becoming a larger danger to us can result in other lower creatures also trying to defeat us! Lord Battousai wouldn't have kept the sorceress, who is a long time enemy toward Vampires if you all have forgotten, alive if he didn't want to find the Seven Dark Diamond Weapons quicker. By obtaining all seven he'll be able to make sure the demons learn their place in this world, it helps that he is truly immortal."
Okina smiled triumphantly as the others nodded in agreement to his logic.
"Have you already started without us?" asked a man with short black hair in a blue suit, his glasses nearly falling off his nose. Behind him stood a man with his hair neatly placed back, who wore a white hakama and brown gi.
"Yamagata, it's been a long time," said Jineh as he looked at the taller lycan who had spoken, nodding when the lycan sat down beside him.
"Katsura, what are you doing here? Where's Katsu?" asked Okubo as the other vampire sat down beside him before the other lycans.
"Lord Katsu couldn't make it, his mate is gravely ill and he requested that I take his place here at the Aoiya. I believe that I felt Lord Saitou and Amakusa's ki just nearby," said Katsura as he smiled at the others and nodded toward Soujiro, who smiled back in return.
"Closer than you think," came the deep voice of amber-eyed vampire as he stepped in. Just behind him was a lycan with long black hair that seemed like a deep red when the light from the candles reached him, and with a grin to his fellow lycans, he too sat down.
"Hajime and Shougo are both here, now the only two left are Lord Battousai and that sorceress of his," said Shishio as he felt the tension of the Elder creatures rise as they sat in the same room.
"We can wait a few more minutes, we've already waited a few centuries to meet again," stated Soujiro, trying to subside the opposition in the room.
"While we wait, what is this that I hear about Lord Aoshi changing sides by wanting to marry a…half breed?" asked Jineh as he looked at Okina, the other Lords following his gaze.
"That shall be taken care of soon enough. What you heard were just rumors, Jineh, you should know better than to jump to conclusions," barked Okina as he narrowed his eyes at the other lycan.
"I heard that the girl knew magic," Enishi added, looking at the older lycan in hopes of finding out if the gossip that had been spreading all over Japan were as true as they seemed.
"That's preposterous! Only the Kamiyas know magic and the last one is somewhere in this inn at this very moment. You know that no one else is supposed to know…magic. It's unheard of! If this half breed were to know it then it's another reason to dispose of her," said Okubo in disgust; the mere thought had his blood boiling and his mind confused as to how someone like Aoshi could wind up liking such a creature.
"All the more reason to hate her," whispered Amakusa as the others all nodded, but Soujiro who seemed to grow stiff at the very mention of Aoshi and his mate.
"Something bothering you, Soujiro?" asked Katsura when he saw the older vampire without his smile on. Personally, he had grown quite accustomed to seeing the other vampire smiling, so much that seeing him without it seemed unnatural.
"I'm fine, I'm merely wondering about what's taking Lord Battousai so long to get here is all," said Soujiro with a fake smile that he had been able to perfect from the first few centuries that he had walked the Earth.
"What about me?" asked the rich and icy voice of a red-haired figure by the shoji door, his golden gaze staring at the occupants around him, whom all stood up out of respect for the eldest creature on the planet.
"Where's Lady Kamiya?" asked Okina when he realized that Kaoru wasn't beside him. He made a mental note that neither were the four Dark Diamond Weapons.
"I thought that she would be joining us," said Shishio with a smirk, taking pleasure in trying to make the other being fiddle around for an answer, but inwardly seethed when he got no such reaction from the vampire.
"She's a bit worn out, you could say," grinned Battousai as he glided through the room and sat down in his proper spot, followed by the others when the shoji door was slid shut by Okon, who had sat down near the rice paper doors.
"Then what about the scream that we heard earlier?" questioned Enishi, trying to provoke his arch nemesis and superior.
"I believe that you all came here for another reason besides asking me time consuming questions about the last of the sorcerers and sorceresses," snapped Battousai, his voice dark and deadly.
"So, shall you explain to us the deeper reason behind this meeting?" asked Katsura seriously after a long dreadful silence.
"Creatures of the dark, I'm going to tell you something that has nothing to do with our upcoming war with the demons, but instead about myself. You can either agree or disagree, but no matter what you're going to have to deal with it," began the vampire, his voice intimidating in such a manner that it caused the others to lean toward him out of pure curiosity.
"Yes?" asked the others in unison when he didn't continue for an extended period of time.
"I've claimed the sorceress as my own," declared Battousai flatly, his face impassive as he watched the others' reaction toward his words.