Sorry this is late, I've had a busy week. People have told me my chapters are way too short, so I'll try to make them longer. Are they really that short? Please let me know. So now without further ado, here's It's a Secret!
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It's a Secret: Chapter 18
Now that he had recovered, Youko was finally ready to get the amulet. To get back into practice though, he had gone on several small scale raids. They had all been fine, but now it was time to return to the snake lord's castle, and to come face to face with the scene of Kuro's death.
He was going on his own, a fool's mission. Incredible odds were against him, but he had to do this alone. So he bid Sho goodbye and set out from the camp. He wasted no time, though every instinct in his body screamed for him to turn around. It was early morning, the sun had only been up for a few hours when he arrived at the forest. The light from the sun shone through spaces in the bamboo. The light backing of the forest created a serene image and a deceptive peace. But Youko knew better, he wouldn't let his guard down.
It took almost no time to find the site of Kuro's death. Bracing himself, Youko stepped forward and looked around. Though he knew what to expect, he was still shocked by what he saw. Before him was his bat's body. Limp and bloody, it remained where it had been when it was first impaled. The chimera's eyes were wide with shock, but also glazed over with death. Trembling, Youko took another step towards his deceased mate.
His heart was pounding so fast it seemed that the forest around him was stirring in response. He reached up and grabbed the shaft of bamboo in Kuronue's leg. Slowly, he pulled it out, and as he did blood gushed out of the wound. Not much though, for he had already lost most of his blood since the time he was killed. In fact, there was a puddle of blood under him. Without noticing, Youko had been standing in it, it was partway up his foot. He ignored this now as his love's blood gushed out over his hands.
Tossing the shaft aside, he reached for another one higher on Kuronue's leg. Digging his feet into the ground, he swiftly pulled it out. He reached for the group of them that had surrounded his bat after the initial blow. Wrapping his arms firmly around them, he pulled hard. The flow of blood increased, staining his pure white clothing red. His arms were already covered up past his elbow with the sticky liquid.
That bunch came out slower than the other two had. He was clearly panting as he finally removed the shafts from his love's body. After several more groups of bamboo were removed, there was only one shaft remaining. He fixed his claws firmly around the final shaft in his lover's chest. Supporting the body with his shoulder, he slowly slid the final piece of bamboo out of the bat.
When he felt his lover's weight increase, he released the shaft and caught the body with both hands. He gently lowered his love to the ground. When he looked down upon his lover's face he felt a new pang of regret sweep through him. Tears filled his eyes and began to fall. The clear water fell silently from his eyes and landed upon the chimera below him, mingling with his blood.
He cried not only for his love's death, but because when he looked upon his face he realized how close he had come to making Kuro's death pointless. If he had gone through with the ceremony and taken his own life, then Kuronue would have sacrificed himself for nothing. Kuronue had given up his life for Youko, but he had disregarded that and forgotten the value of his own life. And now Kuronue's body had been sitting here like this, slowly draining of blood. He hadn't even had a proper burial or mourning yet. That was something Youko could never undo.
But that had also happened in the past, so it was time to move on. He had to look to the future, and try to bring Kuro back. For now though, he would bury the body. Using his control over plants, he had some bamboo clear out of it's home, leaving a good sized hole for a grave. Youko set his lover down on a cushion of leaves inside the grave. He had some vines cover the chimera, then piled dirt on top of those, smoothing it out to appear even with the rest of the ground.
Then he marked the grave with one single blossom, blooming and permanent. It would only fade if Youko did. Tears finally stopped falling as he at last turned away from the grave. Face set with determination, Youko headed towards the castle. He would not fail in obtaining the amulet. Even if it took his life, he would bring Kuronue back to demon world.
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He sped through the bamboo, swiftly rising upward through the forest. As he raced through the bamboo his thoughts were racing. He had hired an assassin to kill Yomi, and though the lowly creature had failed, it did manage to injure Yomi. He had been blinded. Though he was alive, with his sight damaged he would suffer. A satisfied smirk crossed Youko's face. Yes, Yomi will suffer for the rest of his life. That traitor will pay. Maybe next time he'll think twice about trifling with the great Youko Kurama.
He smiled as he pictured it. Yomi wandering the land, unable to protect himself. Relying on the kindness of others, he would wander the world helpless and broken for eternity. A frown came to his face. He was doing it again, the reason was unimportant, Yomi was gone now. Youko felt guilty and angry at himself for not being able to stop thinking about his former apprentice. He had barely thought about Akiko, but revenge on Yomi dominated his thoughts. I swear it, I will stop thinking about him now.
Youko turned his attention back to his surroundings. He was nearing the castle. He was too upset to favor stealth now, he was out for blood. Snarling, he used a tall shaft of bamboo to spring straight through a wall and into the castle. Alarms could be heard instantly. Now in fox form, Youko ran down the hall as fast as he could. Whenever a guard would approach he would yip and shred it to pieces.
He had no idea where the amulet was held, but he intended to kill everyone here, he would question a few before they died. Youko took a sharp left and searched out the guards he heard coming up the hall. Their group was quickly put to death, and justice done, Youko turned to find more demons to punish. He stopped when he sensed a more powerful presence behind him. It was a snake. He considered the idea of it being the lord of the castle, but no. This reptile was too young, it was still to weak.
As if he heard Youko's thoughts, he showed off an advantage that he did have. His tail darted towards Youko from a distance. Youko leapt backwards, fangs bared unpleasantly. The blow struck the floor, leaving an acidic substance behind. The ground bubbled and smoked, the gray stone dissolved, leaving a deep hole in the ground.
One touch of that acid and I'm done for. Youko felt no worry, he wouldn't lose. An eerie calm settled over him. The snake hissed and darted out again with its tail. Slanted eyes turned red as Youko dodged its attacks. This was getting annoying, Youko had no time to waste. He changed out of fox form. Pulling out a seed from his wand, he sent his energy coursing through it. The small seed grew into a cactus like plant with spiny vines extended from it.
"How do you like my cactus vine?" Youko said in a calm voice as the vines lashed out at the young snake. The creature let out a high squeal as one of the vines caught him. Suddenly it seemed to lose interest in attacking and decided it had best escape. When it realized Youko wouldn't let it get away it had to find another way to deal with the fox. It let out a piercing screech that made Youko want to cover his ears very badly. But the kitsune was smarter than that, so the snake's cry didn't work. Or so he thought.
Getting sick of that annoying screech, he quickly sent a cactus vine straight through the snake's throat. That silenced it. Youko chuckled, that was one more down. He dropped the body to the ground, instructing his plant to feed to its heart's content. With that, he changed to fox form and went on his way.
He continued down the hallways, mercilessly killing all as he went. After a while he found what appeared to be the lord's chambers. He ran in and found that the room, unlike the halls, was pitch black. His sharp eyes detected a treasure chest against the back wall of the room. He set his front paws on the lid and looked into the key hole. A small jolt of energy shot into the keyhole was enough to put pressure in the right places. The lock clicked open.
There it was. The Devil's Amulet, golden with a large red ruby set in the center. He quickly snatched it up in his jaws. Then he turned towards the large stained glass window and leapt through it. He ran out into the forest so fast he felt as if he was flying. Behind him all of the plant life around the castle was now working to destroy it. All living things inside of it were being destroyed as well.
It seemed Youko was home free. But unbeknown to him, that little snake's cry had been a call to his father, the lord of the castle. The lord was no low class demon either. He was a very powerful demon, one who did not fear Youko. It arrived as the fox was leaving and immediately gave chase.
Youko kept running, his focus on running until he got back to camp. That was why he was shocked when a powerful beam of energy hit him from behind. Even more shocking was that the energy ripped at the flesh on his back. That was when he realized what had happened. Another snake had gotten him. The snake's acid was eating away at his body, there was no way he could survive it.
A burning sensation was slowly growing in force as it slowly began to consume his body. The spirit fox was literally being eaten away by the acid. Lying there in the dark, Youko felt despair once more threaten to consume him as he faced his own death. And another emotion plagued him as well, fear. It was to soon, Kuronue might not be happy to see him yet. He had just decided to give life another chance, but now this.
He cried out in agony and sorrow as the acid on his tails moved to his legs. There had to be a way to survive. But as blood poured out of him, he knew that there was no way to stop the death of his body. But what about my soul? It hit him just in time. The amulet! It was still clutched in his fangs. One of the spells involving the amulet, the mirror, and the statues was implanting your soul in another living thing. If he could recall the spell in time, then he had a chance.
The first step had been to create a link of your energy to the ruby in the amulet. He did so quickly, much like when he used plants, the bond seemed intimate. Then he envisioned the mirror and sent his energy through the ruby to the mirror. His energy was reflected from the mirror, though still connected to it, and went to the statues. Suddenly, Youko felt the unbearable burning fade as his soul slid out of his body. He looked down and saw his own body below him. It was half destroyed, lying in a pool of blood and anything else that had spilled from inside him. Now it was time to find a new home for his soul, before it was to late.
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Is that long enough? I realize how short some of them were now. It just seems longer when you're typing it. There will be one more chapter after this, so I hope it'll be a good one. I'm not very fond of this chapter, but I needed to write it. I'm in a pretty good mood, so sorry that the death that the whole story led up to didn't turn out as dark as I intended. Next chapter should be better though. See you all next week on It's a Secret.