Chapter Thirty-Nine
Hello everyone! Sorry about the delay in writing; this was a really hard chapter for me to write. It was hitting a little close to home, so I hope I managed to get it across alright. I changed a little about the scenes, such as Botan, Shizuru, and Yukina being aware than Keiko is in shock before the end of Yusuke's fight with Toguro. I'm sorry for the minor change, I have been trying not to change the overall world as much as possible, and I will continue to do so for the rest of the story. I hope you enjoy this next portion of Ella's story! Thank you for the favorites, follows, and reviews! You are all so wonderful! I love opening my computer and logging on to see comments and how many people like this story. You give me the confidence and inspiration to keep writing even when life gets in the way. 3
It was cold. Quiet. My last winter in Japan.
Snow piled gently over my skin and melted on impact. I grinned, listening to my cousin's stomping boots in the clearing. I had always been better at hide and seek than he had.
"I know you're here Ella!" He yelled into the clearing, stomping past my tree and looking behind one of the many snowmen. I covered my mouth to cover my giggle and started packing snow up in my little purple mittens. Peeking out, I saw his back to me and his hands on his hips. I took aim and released the snowball, hitting him in the left shoulder and squealing in laughter as he whipped around and started chasing after me. "Get back here!"
"You can't catch me, you can't catch me!" I sang back to him, darting straight into the bushes and crawling through while Kazuma got stuck, growling at me.
"Bushes are cheating!"
"Only because you can't catch me!"
"You're gonna get it!"
I laughed, continuing to my crawl and squirming out to dart behind another tree. It took a moment to realize that I couldn't hear him yelling threats at me, hear his boots or branches snapping in his wake. This was wrong. I peeked out from behind my cover and didn't see any sign that he had followed me.
"Kazuma?" I called out, retracing around the bush slowly. Where was he?
I felt a weight lift off my chest when I saw his bright red hat and was stopped mid-jog by the sight of a monster stalking toward him. My vision faded in and out, an arena taking place briefly of the clearing before snapping back into place, shouting coming in and out. I covered my ears, anxiety creeping back into my body, and I screamed at the hand that disappeared into Kazuma's chest.
No...
He wasn't...
I closed my eyes, focusing on something happier, another time, somewhere this wasn't happening. The summer before I started school rolled around me, my attire melting down into the swimsuit I wore every single day to the beach with Kazuma and Shizuru. I whipped around, searching for them with my heart pounding only to see Kazuma making one of his famous sandcastles and Shizuru reading on a blanket. I let myself fall into this memory instead, my worries fading out as my feet hit the sand in an effort to get to them quicker.
"Did you get the shells?" Kazuma asked me, carefully smoothing the top of his very impressive sandcastle.
"I found a pretty one for the clock." I told him proudly, plopping across from him and digging in my blue bucket to hold out my treasure.
"I told you Ella; it's for the signal." He sighed, rolling his eyes at me.
"Sigil." Shizuru sighed herself, rubbing her temple. "You mean sigil, little bro."
"I know what I meant!" He defended, crossing his arms and pouting. I giggled.
"Is a siginal like a clock?" I wondered to her.
"A clock tells time. A sigil is the symbol of a family. Like a bear or a moon with a sword through it." She explained to me, ignoring her brother.
"Or like a shell?"
"Yes, sweetie, a shell is a great sigil." She smiled at me despite herself and I giggled, handing it to Kazuma so he could put it on the front of his castle. I broke them too often, so I wasn't allowed to touch them anymore.
"Our siginal could be a shell!" I exclaimed, clapping my hands together and wriggling my toes in the sand. "And we can have a book for Shizuru cuz she's smart and a sword for you Kazuma, cuz you're really strong and strong people have swords!"
"Yeah!" Kazuma puffed out his chest, hands going to his hips to try and look tougher. "I can have a sword and protect you from the princes!"
"No, how am I going to get married if you don't let me meet princes?"
"You can... marry me!" Kazuma grinned, hugging me. I hugged him back, giggling again and Shizuru smirked at us and didn't comment.
A shadow loomed over us and we both looked up to see a monster standing over us, grey skin and deformed body terrifying. I gasped, holding Kazuma closer to me, and screamed when the monster grabbed my arm and threw me to the side, my body rolling into the shallow water. Shizuru was gone, her book and blanket faded as the memory started shattering around me, and I covered my ears again to try and block out the shouting that was getting louder around me. A black haired boy flitted into view next to me and was gone in the same instant, but I could feel arms around me.
No no no no no...
I looked up to see my cousin falling to the ground, blood coating the monster's hand and leaking out onto the sand around him. It melted through the sand like lava, fire sprouting from the ground and trying to take me over. I turned to run from it, willing something else to come through. I shrieked at Kazuma in his first school uniform staring at me with lifeless eyes, the next turn showing him at the park we used to frequent as children. Everywhere I turned the fire produced blood that was eating away at everything about who I was. I covered my ears to try and block out the sounds of his flesh giving way and the monster's laughter in the background, the heavy thud of his body.
I couldn't do this.
I willed something else, anything else, and felt a huge wave of nausea overcome me that made me lock eyes with crimson.
The world spun, colors morphing and noise nearly rupturing my eardrums. The sky was behind Hiei, my back pressed to the gravel and his hands on my sweatshirt. The stadium was fearful still, and walls were holding us in. I blinked up at him and winced at the sandpaper tongue inside my mouth, the headache that comes from dry eyes.
"You need to focus." Hiei growled at me.
Nothing in me wanted to focus at all, but I nodded my head at him and let him pull me back up to a standing position. He allowed me to grip his shoulder while my legs solidified underneath me, and his hand kept hold of my sweatshirt longer than I think he meant to.
Kurama stayed in front of me, blocking my view from the field. I let out a shaky breath and glanced across the stadium to find the girls.
"I know you're in pain, but you need to get to the others." Hiei ordered me. "Go through the crowds until you find them and keep them shielded. Go."
I nodded, finding my feet under me and letting him push me toward the crowd. I kept my eyes forward, stumbling over the debris and hopped the ledge of the stadium walls, climbing through the stands and pushing my way past the few demons still left. I could smell the smoke clinging to Shizuru's clothes far before I should have, and followed the trail all the way up and around to the left. Keiko was on the floor, Botan holding her shoulders and trying to talk her out of her comatose state.
"Ella." Shizuru didn't touch me, just stepped forward so I had to acknowledge her. I blinked at her, feeling the pit of my stomach drop two or three levels. I chewed on my lip and took a breath, but she cut me off. "We'll get through this. Let's just make it through right now."
I nodded, kneeling next to Keiko as well and watching her eyes. She wasn't even remotely here. I could related; I just hoped her place was better than mine. I raised my hand to her face, closing my eyes at the flash of blue overtaking me. I could smell home cooking in the background, and I stepped through the ice cold blue in front of me, letting myself in. I breathed out, glancing around a small food shop. It was empty, voices echoing through the building and the sounds of footsteps all around me.
"Keiko?" I wondered, peering behind the counter to see everything in a neat, organized fashion. I turned on my heels, trailing through the curtain covering the front of the store and into the street. I recognized it as one of the streets Kazuma and I walked past on our way home from school on the days when we wanted to talk longer.
I watched the opaque shadow of little kids zoom past me, their voices a soundwave after they past, and I followed them to the back of the shop. I could feel them more than I could see them, their energy the only real thing giving them away. Keiko was hiding from even herself. The smaller of the two was Keiko, and the taller felt extremely familiar, but I couldn't quite place it.
I knelt next to them, watching ripples across the air and echoes that I could place as their voices. I felt like I was listening to them through the wind, trying to piece together a conversation I was too far away to hear. I raised my hand to the shadow I knew was Keiko and watched it pass through her, an eerie, cold sensation running up my arm and leaving goosebumps in its wake. Interesting.
"When you're ready, we'll be there to keep you safe, Keiko." I promised, brushing my hand through her once again as if there was some way that I could comfort the phantom of her childhood. I guess it really was more for me than for her.
I closed my eyes, feeling myself shift out of her world and back into reality, the noise almost paralyzing and the sensations uncomfortable. Whatever that was, I wasn't sure I wanted to go out of my way to do it again.
"She's not coming out until she's ready." I informed them, standing up at an intruding demon who was bleeding from his bicep. He growled at us, a dark look in his eye, and I whipped out a single lash of water, sending him flying. "Botan, help me keep watch."
"Ella-"
"I'm fine." I shut my cousin down, keeping my eyes firmly on the corridor in front of us in case any more wandering demons decided that they wanted to pick a fight with the ensuing battle below us going on. It might be their last kick, afterall. "Keep an eye on Keiko, make sure she's comfortable. Yukina, talk to her if you would. I heard it offers some level of comfort to those afflicted with shock to be surrounded by comfort and care."
"Of course." Yukina assured me, starting to speak quietly to Keiko. I could feel her, feel Shizuru's anxiety, even Botan's high level of stress and concentration. It was... strange.
I breathed out, watching another part of the stadium crumble across from us as the battle ensued. I tried to keep my heart under control, tried to keep myself focused... but I couldn't stop the burning ache in my sternum.
Kazuma...