Pillar of Sacrifice: Part I

4 days prior to Minato's trials…

The Landlady's violet brows descended into an angry arc as the demon doll spoke. However, she allowed it to speak.

"You believe yourself to be a goddess. A deity for lesser mortals to worship and obey in turn for mercy and salvation. This being the case, I constructed this Cathedral especially for you- a self-proclaimed goddess made flesh. However, I see you as no more than a delusional tyrant blinded by bitterness. As a Christian, I myself worship divinity; a savior, the father, son, and holy spirit. You, on the other hand, put more pride and value over needless possessions as opposed to the lives of the very beings you were tasked with preserving and nurturing. Look below you, Miya. All the proof you need is right here in front of you."

The self-proclaimed 'goddess' looked down and gasped. Seated before the throne in her personal place of worship, were reflections of the past made manifest. Every terminated and deceased Sekirei offered the god that failed them cold, dead stares and permanent frowns. Among them were Kusano and Uzume, who were seated in the very front row. The detail on them was...extraordinary. Both of them were designed exactly how they looked before they died; hair, clothes, everything. Uzume had a large puncture wound through her chest, while the deep, long red streak inflicted by Karasuba's nodachi blade scraped diagonally down Kuu's petite body.

This angered Miya, but for some reason, she continued to listen. To let the rage in her boil. She wanted a reason to kill.

"As you sit high atop your pillar, look at all of those you have failed. Out of the 108 Sekirei in existence, an overwhelming majority are now dead or terminated, two of whom were tenants at your inn. Even as the ones fortunate enough to survive fought to protect you and the grounds you walk against Higa during his ambush, did you choose to inspire them? No. You chose to sit idly by and smile while scolding them for letting your home get damaged, instead of assisting with the battle or even applauding their efforts to protect you and your inn. How like a protective goddess…"

"How dare you say such things!" Miya shouted, balling her fist knuckle tight and slamming it down. "My word is law at my inn! I simply used strict discipline to keep order! Nothing more nothing less! Now release me at once!"

This puppet thing made her think of the way Homura had snapped at her during the failed escape attempt. She had yet to decide how to punish him for his disobedience. Well, she'd get to that as soon as she was out of here.

"The device wrapped around your throat is a garrote. It is made of the same alloy the ship your species arrived on our planet with. Even Sekirei could never wish to break such a strong-bonded element, but you are a goddess among them. You should be capable of freeing yourself if you pull hard enough...However, I would advise against this."

She wasn't even listening to him at this point. His words just went in one ear and out the other as she yanked and pulled at the wire.

The image on the screen frothed over in plaid static; a new setting began being broadcasted. She was about ready to get up and tear the thick noose from her neck...then she saw the image on screen.

Linked together by heavy chains coiling their limp limbs and steel cables around their waists, the tenants of her Inn sat in a roundabout fashion. The fumes gripped their awareness into submission and their heads drooped to their bosoms. They encircled a large stack of what she assumed were explosives. A timer rested on top of it and remained at a static 3:00.

Miya loosened her grip on the near-unbreakable rope. Her hand slumped to her lap as her pupils shriveled to dots. Musubi, Tsukiumi, Kagari, Kazehana, and Matsu...all helpless and incapable of saving themselves.

Now Billy had her attention.

"Now you may recall me mentioning that your tenants had games of their own that they were to participate in. What I didn't mention, however, was that unless you participate in your test, they won't even have a chance to face their own. Do their surroundings look familiar? They should. They're still in your boarding house, Mrs. Asama; your husband's legacy encompasses them all, as do explosives. As you can tell, everyone inside has succumbed to the noxious fumes. Their powers have temporarily withered and each are helpless. But the question remains, what are YOU going to do about it?

"The moment this tape ends, the three-minute timer will count down. However, the timer itself is not linked to the explosives, but to your own device. All you must do to save them is simply participate and not exit the game before it's completed. You see, cheating is the only way you can possibly fail here, for if you do that you lose everything. Your legacy, your friends,

EVERYTHING YOU LOVE WILL DIE.

In this game, you have two options, and each requires you to make a sacrifice. To locate the first option, all you need to do is look in front of your hands. At the end of both of this throne's arms are two mechanisms. On both are five holes, corresponding to each of the five fingers on your hands. Inside the end of all them are buttons that must be pressed. Only one hole leading to a single button is open to you at the moment. In order to gain access to them all, you only need to press all ten. However, in doing so you will make a sacrifice of flesh and blood. Each time one is pushed in, you will gain access to the next button...but the finger which granted your progress will be the price you pay to press onward. In order to escape the device with your life and ensure the safety of your home and housemates, both thumbs, and

EVERY.

LAST.

FINGER.

MUST.

BE.

AMPUTATED.

A Chill ran down her spine hearing those last few words.

"If this method comes off as unworthy of your effort, you can just wait for the timer to run out. When it does, the garrote looped around your throat will be tugged back. It will be pulled so tight that a normal human's neck would be snapped in an instant. Given your status as a goddess, however, you should last considerably longer. As violent and horrific as that fate sounds, the lack of oxygen to your brain will render you unconscious within a few moments. You will join your husband in death, but the tenants will live, your home will still remain, and the pain you will experience will be much less excruciating. So I ask you, Miya, will you sacrifice a part of yourself as all other Sekirei have done for the ones they care for, or will you let it all whither to dust without so much as lifting a finger like you did the lifeless spectators before you? Make your choice..."

*3:00 Bleep… 2:59 Bleep… 2:58 Bleep…*

Miya shook her head violently as the briefing ended. She could hardly think.

"Repulsive clown..." she muttered through her scowling teeth. "Whoever you are, show yourself! Release me and my friends at once! If you do not, I promise your death will not be a quick one!"

Her words echoed and there were no answers following. Save for the dozens of lifeless wax dummies below her, she was alone. Their soulless, plastic eyes remained locked open. Stoic faces and eternal frowns fixated in anticipation for their 'savior's' inevitable late sacrifice.

She wouldn't admit it, but their stares sent an icy chill creeping through her spine. Even her hannya mask had a notable sweatdrop.

I need to get out of here…

She took another look at the timer. To her astonishment, not even half a minute had passed. Why was time going so slow now? Was it because she felt threatened? Vulnerable? NO! It couldn't be!

...still, what else could she do at the moment? Sure, there was always the chance of the man behind the doll bluffing about the dangers of forcing herself free. She could pull at the wire with all her might until it snaps and nothing may happen. Then she'll hunt down the craven little harlequin, whoever he may be, and put him in a deadly game of her own alongside the demonic friend she lets hang over her shoulder now and again!

Speaking of the Hannya apparition, it just now took shape in the video being broadcasted. It hovered over the unconscious Sekirei, hissing black flames out through its horned teeth. Although they were all out of it, a dark blue sickly hue flushed over all their faces as if they were aware of it. They could tell it was there even though they were all half dead… If anyone else were in the room at the moment and stared into its eyes, they'd likely be dead. However, Jigsaw's pig heads likely left shop once the timer and bodies were put in place. How fortunate for them…

But unfortunate for Miya. Now she couldn't use her threats and scare tactics to get her way.

Another ten seconds passed. Two minutes and twenty seconds remained before the decision would be made for her.

Sweat poured from her face as she looked down at the crowd once more. They were sweating too… Her eyes had to have been playing tricks on her…

They were Melting. They were all melting away, fading before her eyes all at once in the scorching heat of the rising sun. Their waxy skin tugged down in ripples into gloppy puddles at their feet. The eyes on some rolled back while heads and limbs clumped off others with gory squishes.

Miya clamped her eyes shut and jerked her head away. They were all fading away and she could do nothing about it. What did she do to deserve this? Nothing! She did nothing!...

Outrage flared in her head, spurring her further into a tantrum fit for a tyrant. "All those words are lies! They have to be! I wasn't arrogant or condescending; I had simply been wise and helpful! The ones below me died because they were not wise enough to heed my advice! I AM the Sekirei goddess! I am strong; they are weak! The needed guidance! It was their fault! Theirs! They were too full of themselves to heed it! My late husband Takehito would have seen nothing wrong with my methods!"

Or was she just saying that to try and convince herself? To deflect the blame of her own failure onto them like an abuser would desperately try convincing themselves of? In all her omnipotence, how could things go so wrong for not only one, but almost all of them? For Kuu...

These thoughts swarmed around Miya's head with great ferocity like angry hornets...yet, a small-microscopic bit of her conscience was actually listening to some of the things that wretched jester had said and was...agreeing with it. Why HAD she allowed Minaka to commit so many atrocities against her race? Why did she relinquish herself from stopping the Sekirei plan well before it began? Why had she ordered Minato's Sekirei to hold back when the ilk that belonged to Higa had assaulted the inn when a repairman could have been easily summoned to restore the inn to its pre-battle state?

Why?

...Because she was a goddess...right?

'Well,' a snarky voice whispered from the back of her mind, 'you don't look like a goddess now, do you? Free yourself then, Miya. Prove your power so you can once again rule over the beings you doomed to extinction.'

Her eyes then opened. She looked at her hands and repeated the phrase. "I did nothing" she murmured, looking back at the dead. "I did nothing to save you…"

Still, they just sat there, boiling over in the sweltering heat and observing her idly sitting there without actually seeing. Just like she had done when they needed her…just like now while her friends needed her…

The Sekirei below her fought valiantly until the end to be by their partner's side forever. They played the game until their hearts beat their final beat and their lungs breathed their final breath. And here she was retired after the passing of her own partner, having the luxury of sitting on the sidelines in her cozy little inn while the ones beneath her were no more.

She felt envy swelling in her belly. Was this why she couldn't be bothered to help any of them? Was she so bitter after losing Takehito that she would see to it that the Sekirei Plan went into full force, knowing full well she had the strength to put a permanent stop to it? No, instead of fighting to prevent as many of her kind from meeting the same fate she did, they would be made to suffer as she did! If she couldn't stand side by side with her beloved for eternity, she would be damned if any of her lowlies would either!

Miya came to realize the message of the game. She went too long in this tournament of bloodshed without lifting a finger to stop it, so therefore her fingers must be done away with to help actually stop it. My, how poetic.

A tear rolled down her sweat-greasy countenance but she stopped herself before breaking down.

She wheezed deeply and readied herself.

"Maybe I have been a tyrant…more fortunate in life than I've given all of you credit for." she sighed wistfully, dragging her hands to the devices. She rested her fingers atop it, drumming the nails on them nervously before bringing her knuckles down on them hard. She took one last look at the timer, then at the crowd. Some eyes dangled out from their sockets and slithered down onto their flattened laps.

"If this is how it must be, then fine…" She pulled her hands down to the holes, and began pushing in her left pinky with a hesitance that left her...confused? Was she afraid? No! she shook her head wildly to do away with the plague of second thoughts. "I will take your pain unto myself..."

She took a deep breath through her nostrils. If she truly were worthy of being called a goddess, she would prove her strength and resilience. Show them AND herself why she should be looked up to as such. The pain couldn't be that bad for her to bare.

"...and I will suffer as you had to."

The finger wandered inside. Halfway in, she bit down on her lip and braced herself for the worst. Letting out a yell in preparation for the worst, she threw caution to the wind and jammed herself in all the way to the end of the socket.

*SLYNCH!*

The landlady's pupils dilated to dots; A scream rivaling even the fiercest of harpies tore from her lungs. An inferno blazed within the moment her finger was gone. Flames plumed upward from the device, sending her body flying back in surprise; Room temperature reached beyond infinity. The trap was cremating it and cauterizing her wound at the same time.

She pulled the stump from the device and doubled over writhing about in agony as her flesh hissed from the searing heat. A red geyser spurts from the seared hole. It wasn't fully cauterized.

The wax Sekirei continued to observe their deity in doll-eyed silence; dreamless as they slicked away into a bubbly abyss, the goddess who failed them convulsing on her throne as her trial of endurance threatened to leave her helpless and undone.

XXX-Flashback-XXX

Earlier before sunrise…

Katsuya Yagami, Saito, and Kaho, cruised over star-lit highways for hours trying to find leads to Oosumi's whereabouts. They had searched all day; morning to night. It took some serious digging, but they finally found a lead.

Saito took the left exit after following the main road. He meandered off to a dirt path and rolled to a stop in front of an old meat packing plant. "Are you sure this is the place, Katsuya?" Saito inquired. Katsuya leaned forward in the back seat and showed him the map on his smartphone. "Yep, this is it. I'm sure of it."

Mr. Yagami had spent the last few days cracking the hidden message in the ransom note found on Kaho's body after she and her Ashikabi were ambushed and separated. It led to this very spot.

"A-alright," he stammered. "Are the snipers in po-"

Saito cupped a hand over his mouth. "Shh, shhh...They may have the grounds bugged. We don't want the ones holding my nephew hostage finding out our little surprise."

Kaho turned her head away, downtrodden.

Saito gave her a pat on the shoulder. "It's ok, kid. We'll get him out of there. We just got to play by the rules. Do you still have the crystal?"

Kaho lifted the jacket off her legs. There it sat on her lap, pulsing brightly.

"Good, good," he said, unlatching his door. "Now, let's get in there."

"Are you sure we can't bring backup?" Kaho asked, following him out into the cool night air. Grey clouds began suffocating the night sky above. "Jigsaw means business. The Sekirei who attacked me were very strong."

The PI shook his head. "Afraid not. The message said only the two of us can enter to retrieve my nephew. Everyone else has to stay outside."

"I'll keep a lookout for anything suspicious, Mr. Fukushima." Yagami reassured with a salute.

Kaho was growing more anxious. Looking up at the dark clouds, she threw her hands up and slaps them to her sides. "Wonderful."

Saito spun her around and pulled her into an embrace. "I got your back. If I have to sacrifice myself to get the two of you out of there, I'll do it."

She gently pushes him away. "Don't say that, uncle..."

Saito blushed at the thought of her being a part of the family. He started walking towards the building, gesturing Kaho to follow. "C'mon."

Kaho followed close behind his husky stature as he led him to the front of the old meatpacking plant.

The piece in Saito's ear gave off some static.

A voice whispered to him, "Snipers are in position. All exits and entrances are covered."

He grumbled in approval as they approached the door. A security camera swiveled on its axis and gave the two an up-down scan-like sweep. Saito and Kaho stared into it for a moment.

"Kaho," Saito said.

"Uh, yes?"

"Show them your housewarming gift."

"Oh, um...right."

She took the coat off the Jinki and held it up for the camera to see. An unlatching came from behind the door shortly after.

Now they knew this was the place.

Saito pushed the door open and pulled out his flashlight after stepping in. He glided the beam on the timeworn walls. They were slushed over in moss and mildew. Some graffiti belonging to local gangs also took residence in this dingy place. A droplet of water plopped on Saito's head. He looked up and saw busted pipes and many holes in the ceiling.

"Place is a real shithole," Saito remarked, coughing.

"Home sweet home for Jigsaw I bet…" she kept on guard. "Just stay close."

Saito swept the light across the floor. Crimson arrows led them down a path and to a sliding door. Saito tried pulling it open, but a lock and chain kept them from entering. Just above it, blade-etched kanji read 'one free bullet'.

"Dammit," Saito cursed. He handed Kaho the flashlight. "Here, take this. I'm gonna try shooting the lock off the chain."

"Oh, okay." Man this place is spooky…

Kaho kept the light on the chain as Saito lined it up nice and good in his sights. A bullet snapped out and the chain crinkled to the ground like a dead garter snake.

Keeping his firearm at the ready, Saito carefully slid open the steel door. Inside was a small, empty room with a prison-barred window. On the other side of that window was a chamber bathed in black.

However, the lights of another even smaller room beside them clicked on. One of Jigsaw's Pigheads took residence inside.

"Welcome…" it said, taking the two by surprise.

Saito aimed his pistol at the beastly man.

"Down on your knees!" he shouted, stepping forward and shoving Kaho behind him.

The goon spoke, its voice garbled via voice changer. "I'm afraid the law will not be the ones giving orders today, Mr. Fukushima," the swine said. "Now," it pointed across the room at a chute in the wall. "Unless you want to see Oosumi again, I suggest you cooperate and relinquish your weapons."

"I think it's best we do as he says, Saito-san," Kaho surmised.

Saito grumbled. "And what happens if I say no and shoot you in your ugly face through that glass window?"

"This is bulletproof glass." The pighead said, knocking on it hard. "Try it and your nephew dies."

The lights in the other room thummed to life upon the pighead hitting a switch. Inside, Oosumi stood on a platform; arms anchored above in some kind of glass box. The bottom of it was filled with blood. His blood. He noticed Kaho and screamed, lurching towards her. No sound could be heard from within, but it was clear that the pull on his arms hurt him quite a bit.

Kaho rushed over to the window and banged her fist into it, repeatedly screaming her ashikabi's name.

Saito scowled and roared at the bastard. "You sick fuck! Let him out of there!"

"The platform he is standing on is rigged to give way if you don't comply with my demands in one minute. When it does, the trap door beneath him will give way and his arms will drag down through the razors until they are completely degloved. The timer starts now."

[1:00…0:59...0:58…]