Ch. 14

Before you ask, no I have no idea who that magic man was. All I can say- and I really hope you're not surprised by this- is that his magic was strong.
~

Rin woke slowly, still sitting against the stony wall. Her ears twitched as her eyes opened, but there wasn't a sound. Blinking away sleep, the young half-demon glanced around the still-dark room. James was curled on his side, facing away from her, but still fast asleep. From down the hall, Rin could also hear Spiker and Sponge snoring away as they slept off the fish and wine.

Standing up, Rin turned and peered out the window. The stars were still in the sky, but the black of night was giving way to the ashy grey of an overcast dawn. The garden was quiet, the air heavy with mist and heat and, Rin knew, something else. She was certain of it; there was something in the air! But what was it?

Rin left the bedroom and crept downstairs. The dark house was silent and still as the half-demon prowled into the kitchen. The fire had gone out, but Rin made no move to light it. Instead, she pushed open the kitchen door and stepped into the silent garden. Grey fog swirled around the half-demon's bare feet as she crept into the center of the garden. Halting by the peach tree, Rin pulled herself onto one of the lower branches and looked around. Nothing.

The young half-demon growled, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck prickle. Nothing? Oh, she didn't think so. She sensed a presence and it was here, in the garden, or at least close by. And one way or another, Rin Kurosaki was going to find out what was causing this disturbance!

Sniffing the air again, Rin hissed and hunkered down in the branches. She let the unfamiliar presence wash over her and shuddered at the feeling. It wasn't another demon. That she knew for certain. There was no prickling running along her flesh that would indicate a demonic presence. No, this power was completely different.

Rin gasped. Power! Magic power and a lot of it! And yet not a demon? Then who? Who would possess such magic? Rin didn't know what other creature could rival a demon in terms of of raw power and even if she did, she hadn't sensed a presence like this in England before!

Is the source of this power also responsible for the change in the weather? It was possible, but without knowing what she was up against, Rin couldn't be sure. What she was sure of, however, was that whatever was out there was looking for her. Power always sought out power, after all.

"Who are you?" Rin called, careful not to shout lest she should wake her sleeping kin. There was no answer; the garden remained still in the growing dawn.

"I asked who you are? What are you doing here? Are you looking for me?" Still nothing, not even a breath of wind. Rin growled and bared her fangs.

"I am Rin Kurosaki, daughter of Tomoko Kurosaki and granddaughter of the great Lord Haruki Kurosaki. Whoever you are, I don't fear you and should you attempt to harm me or my little brother, I promise you will not be leaving alive. Show yourself now, while I am still inclined to be merciful!"

"AHHHH!"

Rin jumped and looked around. The screaming, now accompanied by whacks and thumps, was coming from inside!

James! In two strides, Rin had made it to the kitchen door and wrenched it open. Inside, James was scrambling to his feet, his hands cupped. Behind him, Sponge was laying flat on her back as Spiker for some reason, was removing a heavy flyswatter from her sister's face.

"What's going on here?" Rin asked as James ran up to her.

"They tried to kill the spider," he informed her.

"What?" All this over a spider? At Rin's feet, Sponge stared up at Spiker.

"You hit me in the face," Sponge dazedly informed her sister.

"Rin, c'mon." James was already out the door. Dropping his voice so that neither Spiker or Sponge could hear, the little boy whispered,

"We have to help it."

Rin spared one last look at her aunts, who were beginning to bicker before rolling her eyes skyward.

"Chikushou!" she shouted before following James, slamming the kitchen door behind her.
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"James-chan, wait!" Rin chased after her brother, who was was running full speed toward the garden wall. Leaping forward, Rin made it to the wall first, hoping James would slow down. "Those two were screaming like that because of the spider in our window?"

Gasping for breath, James nodded and knelt by the wall.

"That's what woke me up. Auntie Spiker tried to kill the spider with the flyswatter and Auntie Sponge had the bug-spray. I-" James bit his lip and looked at the ground. "I didn't want to see the spider hurt, so I grabbed it. I ran into Auntie Sponge and fell down the stairs and-"

"You WHAT? Are you alright?" Rin knelt next to her brother, grasping his shoulders. "James-chan, are you hurt at all? Tell me!" James shook his head.

"No, I'm okay. And so's the spider. See?" Opening his hands, he showed Rin the spider nestled in the little boy's palms.

"I see," Rin said, releasing her grip on James's shoulders with a sigh. If James had been hurt... If he had fallen the wrong way... If Spiker and Sponge had... All the same, Rin couldn't herself from smiling at James. "That was very brave, little brother," she told him.

Ducking his head from the praise, James held his hand up to the wall. "Go on," he encouraged. "Get out of here. Get as far away from here as you possibly can." Together, Rin and James watched the spider crawl into one of the cracks in the wall and vanish from sight.

"I think it left, James-chan."

"Oh, I wish we could too."

"What's stopping you?"

In the time it took for James to gasp, Rin had pushed the little boy behind her and bared her claws and fangs at the speaker, an old man leaning against the garden wall. Raising an eyebrow at the growling half-demon, the man gave her a calm smile.

"No need for all that, Rin. I mean neither you nor James harm."

Peering out from behind his sister's back, James stared at the visitor with wide eyes.

"How do you know our names?" he asked. The man chuckled.

"I know a lot more than just your names." He slid down from the wall, crouching in front of the siblings. Rin continued to glare at him as she drank in the stranger's appearance. While the man certainly wasn't young, old didn't seem to be the right word for him. Neither, for that matter, did the term "middle-aged" apply. Rather, the man seemed to possess both age and youth; the lines on his brow spoke of many years yet his movements were as sharp as those of an agile youth. The man's thinning hair was jet black and his angular face was riddled with stubble. He wore a shabby black jacket upon which hung various watches that jangled when he moved. His finger-less grey gloves were threadbare, as were his dark trousers and scuffed shoes. Despite his ragged appearance, Rin gasped as she felt the power radiating from him.

"You. You're the one I sensed!" The man nodded.

"Indeed. But I assure you, Rin Kurosaki, daughter of Tomoko and granddaughter of the great Lord Haruki, I am not here to harm either you or James." The man fixed his piercing glare on James, who had moved to crouch next to Rin rather than behind her.

"What if I told you," the man asked, addressing the little boy, "that the answers to all your dreams are right here. Inside this little bag?" From behind his back, the man drew forth a very familiar bag.

"Hey. That's my-" James was too stunned to continue.

"Of course it is," the stranger said, amusement in his voice.

"How?" Rin asked, a growl forcing its way into the question. The man smiled at the suspicious half-demon. He waved a gloved hand over the deflated balloon and the paper began to glow green from within.

"Go on, then. Have a look."

Rin and James peered into the bag's opening. Inside were a mass curly green things, each one of them small enough to rest on a child's fingernail and each one of them radiating with an emerald light. The curly green things- whatever they were- squeaked and chittered softly as they wriggled about in their paper prison.

"Whoa," James breathed, awed. Next to him, Rin sat stock still as she beheld the creatures.

This man's power is great, but these things- whatever they are- they're what I was sensing earlier! I've never felt anything so powerful. But... it's muted too. Like the potential is there, but it hasn't been tapped yet. What in the name of all demonkind are these things?

"There's more power and magic in those things than in all the rest of the world put together," the man said softly as Rin and James returned their gazes to him.

"But what are they?" James asked, giving voice to Rin's own thoughts.

"Crocodile tongues," came the answer.

"Tongues?" repeated James.

"What?" asked Rin. But the strange man was just getting started.

"One thousand long slimy crocodile tongues boiled up in the skull of a dead witch for twenty days and nights with the eyeballs of a lizard." Leaning closer, the man went on. "Add the fingers of a young monkey, the gizzard of a pig, the beak of a green parrot, and three spoonfuls of sugar. Stew for another week and then-" here the man paused and shut his left eye. When he opened it, the eye was gone. In its place was a pale shimmering orb that glowed in the man's eye socket.

"-let the moon do the rest." The man blinked and the orb was gone, his eye back to normal. For a moment, there was nothing, but stunned silence. Then, crossing her arms, Rin asked.

"Let me guess. You expect us to eat this?" The half-demon couldn't conceal the sarcasm in her voice.

"No, Rin. I expect you and James to place them in a jug of water, add ten hairs from your head apiece, then pour the mixture into a glass each and drink it."

"And why in hell makes you think we'd do such a thing?"

"Because if you do," the man replied, unruffled by Rin's ire, "marvelous things will happen to the two of you. Things," he said, addressing James once more, "even you couldn't dream of, James. And I'm sure your sister would agree that you are quite the dreamer." The man smiled at the little boy, who met his grey gaze with a wary look.

"Like what kind of marvelous things?" James asked.

"Well, like you'll never be miserable again. And you are miserable, aren't you, James?" At this, the little boy lowered his head and nodded. The man looked up at Rin.

"Yes, I know. You've both endured so much loss and shed more than your share of tears. But the two of you weren't meant to be miserable."

"Tell that to whatever force led our parents into the storm," Rin muttered. And my father to face a horde of demons alone.

"I wish I could have. And you as well, I have no doubt. Sadly, there are some things we cannot fight. Ah, but then," the man smiled and winked at the half-demon, "that was never your style, was it, Rin? Like your grandfather, you'd fight whatever storm came your way until your last breath, wouldn't you?"

Rin laid a hand on James's shoulder. "I don't care what was or wasn't meant to happen. I'll fight any force of nature to keep James safe."

"Of course you would. And James, you would defend your sister no matter what, wouldn't you?"

"Yes," James answered, staring up at the strange man. "Rin wouldn't hurt someone for no reason. She just tries to protect me, that's all. But she's not bad. She's good."

The man nodded in approval. "You both rely on each other to make it through whatever hard times comes your way, Rin with your strength and courage and James with your kindness and imagination. Continue to help each other and you may find that place you're dreaming of sooner than you think."

In one swift motion, the man reached behind him and pushed one of the stones from the wall. It crumbled to the ground at his touch, leaving a square gap in its place. The man moved to one side, motioning for Rin and James to look. Despite the limited view, both siblings could see the shimmering ocean clearly. And against the shore, an array of glimmering sky scrapers with the Empire State Building rising proudly above them all.

"New York City," James breathed. The vision faded away in the mist as the man's face rose up on the other side of the wall to address the two again.

"And it'll be that much closer if you'll only take the first step."

"But how?" James asked, looking from the old man to Rin. "None of this makes any sense."

"I know," Rin replied. "But this may be the opportunity we've been looking for. I can't say why, but I feel it."

"Exactly!" The man tapped his head, looking intently at James. "Sometimes, the answers you seek don't make sense in here. Rather, they're here." Gently, he held out a hand and placed his finger over James's heart.

"You feel it," James repeated, looking at the man's hand and then up at Rin again.

"Hai."

"And the magic is here," the man said, suddenly at James's side again. Rin blinked in surprise; she hadn't seen the man move. By the souls of her departed ancestors, he was powerful.

"So, you two, what'll it be?" The man held the bag out to James. James glanced a his sister and then at the bag. Rin saw him take a deep breath and then he reached out to grasp the bag, Immediately, the man covered the little boy's hand with his own.

"Now James," the man commanded, his eyes like chips of ice. "Don't let these little green things get away from because if they do, they'll work their magic on whoever or whatever they meet first. Understand?" James nodded and the man favored the siblings with one last smile.

"Good." A sudden gust of mist-shrouded wind surrounded the siblings. The man's voice was carried on the airy current and in that instant, he was gone.
~

Did I trust that man? No, not exactly. But like I said, I trust my instincts. And hey, I was right, wasn't I?